Infinite DC - Wonder Woman
by J.A.Phillips
Summary: AU. A vision from two weeks in the future tells of a zombie apocalypse that is set to begin in Washington, D.C. Sure enough, the dead are rising, from zombies of the worst men the world has ever produced, to undead beasts stitched together as crude abominations. Wonder Woman must find the cause of the apocalypse and stop it before it happens. Rated M for content in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

It was a fairly typical autumn Saturday in Washington, DC. Parents were walking their children here and there, who played in the leaves that were scattered across the sidewalks. Gophers for businessmen and politicians were running from building to building, fetching coffee for their bosses. A few kids were on their roller-blades, weaving between pedestrians as they headed to the nearby roller ramp. And, as was most typical of all, traffic was WRETCHED, impatient drivers honking their horns in a desperate and pointless attempt to get the cars in front of them to move.

Naturally, with so much activity, no one really noticed as small sections of the road started to crack ever so slightly. It wasn't until the ground started shaking, children stumbling over, that people began to believe there was an earthquake. But it wasn't a tremor at all, as one fallen child realised when they tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and spotted the rotting hand reaching out from it.

All over the city, the streets were cracking apart, hordes of undead flowing out. Within moments, the streets were filled with zombies in the thousands. But they weren't just humans: Some were animal pieces, crudely sewn together, to form zombified abominations, like a large wolf with eagle wings on its back and four extra eyes, or a rhinoceros with a massive shell over its back that was covered in razor-sharp blades. The police were overrun with ease, and the military couldn't possibly scramble in time to deal with the situation.

Finally, after a mere minute, the White House was split apart, bodies falling from the cracks, by a single monstrous beast resembling something that emerged from Lovecraft's darkest nightmares: An undead plesiosaurus with the head of a T-Rex. In addition to its flippers, which had blood-covered spines on their undersides, it also had six spider-like legs. Its tail was more akin to a scorpion's, which was also dripping in blood. It let out a hideous roar as flames burst out from the earth, enveloping the entire city and burning anything still alive to cinders within seconds.

Diana gasped, horrified by what she saw spread out before her. So much death and destruction, and she had been powerless to do anything about it. Tears flowed from her eyes as she tried desperately to say or do something, ANYTHING, other than stand there like a deer in the headlights, and all she could think of was to ask herself over and over why she hadn't been able to stop it.

"Diana?" she heard a voice call. "Diana! DIANA PRINCE!"

The tall brunette turned to her left, facing a man in a Taco Whiz uniform. "P-Paul?!"

"Yer tacos!" Paul shouted.

Diana looked forward again. The horrific scenery was gone, though replaced with one that terrified her nonetheless: Her job at the Taco Whiz, with her boss standing a foot away, and the tacos that she had made for a costumer were burnt.

"Oh, shoot!" Diana stammered to her boss, cleaning up. "I'm sorry, Paul, I-"

"Ya looked like ya'd seen a ghost," Paul commented. "Ya alright?"

Diana sighed, running a hand through her thick brunette hair. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just...I guess I was daydreaming, but it felt so real."

"This ain't like ya, Di," Paul pointed out. "Yer usually one o' my best back here. Ya sleepin' alright?"

Diana put up a weak smile, deciding to just go with that. "Yeah, that must be it."

"Well, yer shift's almost over anyway," Paul replied, hiking a thumb up to a nearby clock on the wall that was showing it was 6:52 PM. "Do yerself a favour: Go home, get some rest. No partyin' or anythin' tonight, ya hear?"

"I don't generally go out partying anyway, but got it," Diana complied, taking off her apron.

"...Seriously?" her boss asked, dumbfounded. "Man, Di, ya really are a mystery. Yer the hottest dame I know, not to mention the smartest, and yer workin' in a dump like this an' don't ever go out on dates? Ya savin' up money for somethin' big?"

Diana flashed her trademark smile, the one that would make a person's heart melt. "Just trying to get by is all."

And with that, Diana left the Taco Whiz, her dinner for that night in a paper bag in her hands. The truth was, she worked at the Taco Whiz because, for all of her intelligence, she couldn't get work anywhere else. Not that she took issue with working in a taco restaurant, mind you. In fact, she saw it as noble work, seeing as how not everyone would want to do it, but someone would ultimately HAVE to. It's just that she couldn't get a better paying job. After all, she didn't have any sort of college degree, or even a high school diploma, as she had never attended either. Not in Man's World, anyway.

In truth, Diana wasn't from Washington, D.C. She wasn't even American. She was an Amazon, born and raised on an island known as Themyscira. They were a race of warrior women, granted immortality by the Greek Gods of Olympus, and given Themyscira as a homeland cut off from the Man's World. Diana herself had been created by the Gods as a daughter to the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta. She'd been carved out of clay, after which the Gods granted her life, as well as many other gifts that eventually made her the greatest of her people. She was here primarily as an ambassador, and as a champion for goodness, equality, and justice. The world of man eventually came to call her Wonder Woman, and accepted her as one of their heroes.

Unfortunately, that didn't exactly pay the bills. And, seeing as how she had to live somewhere in this new world, she needed a job so she could earn her keep. This also meant creating an alias for herself. After all, as she learned on her first day job-hunting, not everyone is completely comfortable hiring a woman that they knew had the strength to pick up a truck. Thus, Diana of Themyscira became Diana Prince. Not exactly a secret identity, mind you, but a personal identity so that she didn't have to be Wonder Woman all the time.

Diana walked out onto the sidewalk, and for a split second, she was terrified that she'd see the death and mayhem all over again. Much to her relief, though, the only mayhem before her were cars caught in traffic. Just to further reassure herself, she looked to her iPhone. Sure enough, it was a Friday, September 8th, and autumn wasn't for a couple of weeks.

_What WAS that, anyway?_ she asked herself as she trudged along towards her apartment. _It seemed so real. I could feel the heat from the fires, smell the rotting corpses. Was I really daydreaming, or was it some sort of vision? And if it WAS real, or rather, GOING to be real, what could've possibly caused it?_

Diana's thoughts were interrupted as a pair of police cars came speeding by. Stretching her senses out, she could hear other sirens further ahead as well. In a moment of terror, she sprinted after the police cars, unconcerned if anyone noticed the brunette woman in the Taco Whiz uniform running faster than most professional athletes. Finally coming around a corner, she sighed in relief at the sight before her.

_Thank Hera, no zombie hordes!_ Diana thought with a smile. _Just a tank...Wait, a tank?_

Diana's smile faded as the tank opened fire on a police car driving toward it. Thankfully, it barely missed its target, sending the car crashing into a fire hydrant, the two officers inside getting out unharmed. However, what instantly soured her mood was when she finally took notice of the man piloting the tank: A short, dark-haired man with a toothbrush moustache, wearing a Nazi uniform, screaming in German at passers-bys.

"...Adolf Hitler is driving a tank in down-town Washington," Diana said in a monotone voice. "It's going to be one of those days."

Dashing into a nearby alley, Diana set the paper bag containing her dinner down, hoping no one would stumble upon it. Then, taking a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, Diana began to spin as fast as she could, an array of bright lights flashing around her as her clothes changed. In place of her Taco Whiz uniform was a red top with a golden eagle-shaped breastplate over-top of it, a golden W-shaped belt with an equally golden lasso attached to it, a blue Gladiator-style skirt with white stars running down it, knee-high red and white boots, a golden tiara with a red star in the centre, and silver bracers. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail, which cracked like a whip when she stopped spinning, sending out a small array of golden star-like sparks of energy.

Her transformation complete, Diana leaped out of the alley, just as the man who was apparently Adolf Hitler began opening fire on police officers with a machine gun mounted to the top of his tank. Diana moved fast, landing in front of the police and reflecting the bullets with her bracers, thanks to the incredible speed granted to her by Hermes. The bullets soon stopped, and Diana was able to get a better look at Hitler. Sure enough, using the telescopic vision Artemis blessed her with, she could see small bits of skin tissue rotting. This WAS Adolf Hitler. Worse yet, a zombie Hitler, brought back from the grave somehow.

"What is this?!" Hitler demanded. "Can it be that the Americans have created the superman, but it is a superWOMAN?!"

Diana smirked in confidence. "Actually, I'm from Themyscira! And I'm not the Superwoman, I'm the Wonder Woman!"

"Regardless, you are inferior, and shall be destroyed by my war machine!" Hitler barked, aiming the tank's cannon at Wonder Woman.

Diana fought back the urge to roll her eyes, grabbing hold of her lasso. Using precise timing, speed, and skill impossible for the ordinary human, she waited until Hitler fired the shell from the tank's cannon, then leaped straight up and threw her lasso forward. To Adolf's shock, she actually managed to rope up the shell, then swung it around and back into the tank's treads, blowing them to pieces. Hitler immediately grabbed his machine gun, aiming it at Wonder Woman as she hovered in mid-air. However, Diana was too quick, swinging her lasso out again, this time grabbing Hitler himself. Since he was a zombie, and thus already dead, Diana had no problems yanking him clean out of his seat, then levelling him with a punch that sent him crashing back down to the street below.

As the former Nazi leader moaned in humiliating defeat, Wonder Woman dropped back down next to him. She tightened the lasso around his body, the golden rope glowing brightly as Diana channelled the Fires of Truth through it. Through Hestia's gift, Diana knew how to control the fires, using the Lasso of Truth to force those tied in it to tell the truth.

"How did you return from the dead?" Wonder Woman asked.

"I do not know...!" Hitler groaned. "One moment, I was among many dead souls, wandering the afterlife, then the next, I was here...!"

"And just happened upon a tank?" Diana inquired, seeming doubtful.

"No, no, I stole that," Adolf admitted. "Even in the 21st Century, American security is no match for a single armed German."

Wonder Woman looked around. Sure enough, a massive crowd had formed, though there didn't seem to be TOO much in the way of damage, and few injuries sustained by anyone in the vicinity. But that wasn't what concerned Diana. She had just had a vision of some sort about a zombie apocalypse, and now, she had just defeated a real life zombie. If there was any doubt in her mind before that what she saw back at the Taco Whiz was for real, it was GONE now. And as she'd earlier established, autumn was two weeks away, meaning she had, at the very least, two weeks to figure out just what in the name of Hera was going on.

"I think I'm going to need some help with this one," Diana muttered, hauling the zombified Hitler to his feet. "But first, I need to take YOU back to where you came from."

"Braunau am Inn?" Adolf asked as Wonder Woman pulled him along.

"Think gloomier," Diana replied, realising this was going to be a LONG trip, and that her dinner was going to have to be indefinitely postponed.

* * *

**_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_** Hello everyone! Allow me to introduce the story that I was originally writing for NaNoWriMo 2013. Hope you all enjoy it, as I've put a lot of time and effort into this. As for when this occurs in the chronology of Infinite DC, it takes place about 6-12 months before The Man of Tomorrow, and therefore about 4-10 months before Tales of the Caped Crusader. Speaking of which, while they are referenced a few times, don't expect Superman or Batman to appear in this story outside of VERY minor cameos. There will be other characters that come and go in this story from the extended DC Universe, but this will be first and foremost a Wonder Woman story.

So, let's talk about the version of Wonder Woman in this fanfic for a sec: As you can tell, I took many a cue from various interpretations of the character. For example, her costume/appearance is a hybrid of many different versions that have shown up in the past, like her tiara having the nose-guard seen on the All-Star Batman and Robin version, and her hair being pulled into a ponytail like in Justice League: War. Her character is also a balancing out of various versions of her. She's compassionate for just about everyone, but she's not without her limits. She'd just as soon solve her problems with compassion and reason, but knows who will and won't respond to that. She's confident, but not overconfident to the point of dis-acknowledging her limits. She's capable of great feats in the name of humanity, but doesn't see working at a fast food restaurant as beneath her.

We'll get into the other powers and equipment at Diana's disposal later, as well as meet some of her supporting cast, but for now, I'll leave you with this: If they ever appeared in ANY interpretation of the character, if they were ever established or encountered in her comics, TV shows, or movies, there is a chance they will show up here. In the meantime, check back in next time when Wonder Woman goes looking for clues about the coming zombie apocalypse. Ja né!


	2. Chapter 2

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_4 hours later_  
_The Gates of the River Styx_

Diana wanted so badly right now to have some sort of gag for her 'companion' as they approached the location of one of the few known gates to the underworld. It was hidden in the hills outside of Washington, cloaked by magic against anyone with the vision to see through it, or the knowledge of its presence. Naturally, it was quite the hike, as Diana had decided she trusted Adolf better on the ground than in the air. Suffice to say, he had not shut up the entire trip there, and while Wonder Woman had been blessed upon birth by Aphrodite with a near-endless amount of compassion, the former leader of the Nazi regime was testing it. A LOT.

"Peh, 'warrior women'," Hitler spat. "You are inferior beings created by pagan 'Gods'. If you had been at war with my regime, we would have left you a bloody smear on your little island hideaway, which is the ONLY reason you still exist today, in the wake of our righteousness."

"Yes, the Nazis were VERY righteous," Wonder Woman replied sarcastically. "Which is why you've been rotting away in the deepest, darkest corner of Tartarus for the past 70 years or so."

"Make no mistake, small Amazon," Adolf growled, "I WILL have revenge for the indignities I've suffered in both my life and my afterlife, including on you."

"First of all, I'm nearly twice your size," Diana countered. "Second, revenge isn't exactly befitting the supposedly righteous. Third, SHUT UP!"

"Or what?" Hitler mocked. "You'll knock my head off my shoulders? I'm dead, what do I care? I'll bite your feet clean off, and let you die from the infection!"

Diana scowled as the gate came into view. Normally, this gate would require a blood sacrifice in the light of the full moon to pass through. However, due to Wonder Woman's status with the Gods, she was allowed free passage whenever she wanted. It wasn't a problem with any of them for her to be allowed free entry, since the underworld wasn't exactly a place she liked to traverse to regularly.

As she came within a few feet of the gate, however, the ground began to shake. It caused the ground to crack slightly, and Diana knew in her gut that this was NOT a tremor. She looked around for the cause as Hitler stumbled about clumsily. Picking the undead Nazi up, she found a stone slab and tied him to it with the Lasso of Truth.

"Hey!" Hitler yelled. "What do you think you're doing?! I'm completely helpless here!"

Diana shrugged with a smirk. "You're dead, what do you care, remember?"

Adolf was about to snap back, but soon found himself shrieking like a child as a giant monster burst out from the ground. It looked like a gigantic black spider with its eight legs replaced with at least a dozen massive, slime-covered tentacles, huge red butterfly wings attached to its back. It let out a loud, shaky shriek that sent chills all across Diana's bones.

"Oh, it WOULD have tentacles," Diana observed as the beast hovered off the ground. "And somewhere right now, Supergirl is giggling at me, I'm sure."

The crudely stitched-together abomination sent its tentacles out at Wonder Woman, who flew up to avoid them. Without her lasso, she was without any sort of weapon, meaning she would have to fight this thing bare handed. She cringed at such a thought as she flew as fast as she could to avoid the tentacles. Not that she was particularly afraid to fight it bare handed, just that she knew it would wind up being VERY disgusting.

Deciding on the best course of action, Diana weaved around the tentacles, flying toward the undead monster's wings. Unfortunately, the beast was clearly aware of what she was planning to take out, and so it beat its wings hard, sending a flurry of spores into Wonder Woman's face. The paralyzing agent in the spores took effect right away, giving the monster a chance to slam her to the ground in a mass of tentacles.

"Mein Gott!" Hitler shrieked, watching as the fight went on.

The stitched-up monstrosity growled as it gripped its tentacles harder around Diana, trying to crush her bones into dust. However, its eight eyes widened in amazement as the tentacles were slowly pushed apart. Glaring downward, it watched as Wonder Woman pried them apart with her knees and elbows, exerting as much force as she could. Finally, she pulled her tiara off, slashing the nose-guard across three of the tentacles, shortening them rather effectively. This sent a howl of pain out of the beast, giving Diana enough time to launch herself up like a torpedo, punching the abomination's underbelly hard. As it recoiled, she grabbed what was left of the tentacles and quickly went to work tying them around its wings, dropping it to the ground where it lay helpless.

Groaning, Diana dropped back down to the ground, wiping the slime from the monster's tentacles from her costume. She then walked over to the stone slab where she'd left Hitler tied up, whose face resembled a man who looked like he'd just wet himself at least a couple of times.

"Not bad for an 'inferior being', huh?" Wonder Woman asked smugly, freeing the Nazi from the slab.

"Unglaublich!" Adolf exclaimed. "That monster should have killed you!"

"It made the mistake of slamming me to the ground," Diana explained, hauling Hitler up. "I was able to send out the paralysing effect of its spores through the earth. One of the many abilities my 'pagan Gods' gifted me with."

"How can such a horror even exist?" Hitler inquired, looking over the entangled monster as they approached it cautiously.

"That's what I plan to find out," Wonder Woman replied. "Come along, Hitler. We're going to speak to the Lord of the Dead."

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_Themyscira_

Hippolyta fell back in her throne, panting hard. She felt like she'd been rocked by a hurricane, her head throbbing from the ordeal of having...she wasn't sure what it was, really. Random images of death, mixed with a jumble of words she couldn't understand. It was as if someone was trying to send a letter to her mind, but the ink ran while it was being sent.

"Queen Hippolyta!" she heard a voice cry.

Hippolyta looked up, seeing the red-headed Amazon warrior running toward her, looking deathly concerned for her Queen. "It's alright, Artemis. I'm fine."

"What happened?" Artemis of Bana-Mighdall asked, still worried.

"A vision, I think," Hippolyta replied. "But it was horribly distorted, impossible to understand."

"Can you remember any of it?" the Captain of the Guard inquired.

"Small fragments," Hippolyta answered. "Images of death across the world. Men, women, animals...all that live upon this world."

"Even we here on Themyscira?" another concerned voice asked, Hippolyta looking past Artemis to the red-haired Amazon's partner in combat and in life, Philippus of Themyscira.

The Queen of the Amazons nodded. "So it would seem."

"We should make contact with Princess Diana right away, my Queen," Artemis suggested.

"There is no need," Hippolyta responded. "For some strange reason, I can sense that my daughter is already aware of the threat. I could sense a part of her reverberating through the vision as it was being sent. Perhaps the same message was sent to her?"

"Then we are to do nothing?" Philippus asked, Hippolyta quickly shaking her head.

"No, Philippus," Hippolyta said, rising from her throne. "We shall keep close eye on Man's World through the Silver Mirror. And make sure our finest warriors are prepared for battle at a moment's notice, just in case the worst should occur."

Artemis and Philippus nodded, leaving their Queen to herself. Once they were gone, though, Hippolyta sat back on her throne, and could not help but say a small prayer to Hera that the worst would not occur. For, while there were many that she had seen laying dead in the burning ruins of the world, there was one she saw standing far away from the flames with a look so broken-hearted, it pained her to see it. After all, no parent should be forced to watch their child lose all hope and appear dead inside.

* * *

_A few minutes later_  
_The River Styx_

Deep within the halls of the underworld, a single man looked over the souls passing through the River Styx. He wore a dark garb akin to an undertaker of the Victorian era, an attire he found himself becoming rather fond of. He gently tapped his cane against the stone floor, waiting until he received an update on the number of new souls entering the realm often-times named after himself, when his attention instead fell upon a woman turning a corner in the dark halls, facing him with purpose.

"Ah, Princess Diana," Hades said with a smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your-"

"Save the pleasantries, Hades," Wonder Woman declared, nudging a man forward. "I'm not here to shoot the breeze. I assume you know him?"

Hades' eyes narrowed as he looked to the short Nazi. "Adolf Hitler. Free from your prison in Tartarus, and with a new zombie body. This will NOT go unpunished."

"It wasn't my fault!" Hitler insisted. "I was risen without my consent!"

Diana rolled her eyes. "I want to know what you know about a recent emergence of zombies, Hades."

Hades smirked. "I assure you, Diana, that I know nothing about this, and it's not as if one single prisoner being-"

Hades was once again cut off as Diana reached around the stone corner and yanked hard, revealing the massive undead creature she'd beaten, still tied with its own tentacles. The Lord of the Dead's smirk faded as Wonder Woman gave it a small punt, sending it crashing before him. He looked back to Diana, seemingly irritated.

"Want to try again?" Wonder Woman asked. "Or would you prefer I spoke with Zeus and had HIM come down here?"

Hades scowled in anger for a moment, but sighed, deciding to drop the pretence of innocence. "Follow me. Guards, escort the German and this...THING, to holding cells."

Diana quickly followed after Hades as he walked along the stone corridors, a quartet of dark armoured guards coming to do their master's bidding. As they walked, Wonder Woman watched as the souls passed through the river, though for some reason, there seemed to be less than could usually be seen in the underworld, a fact that should have sat well with her, but it didn't. Instead, it left an ominous feeling in her stomach.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before you or someone else came down here," Hades admitted. "The truth is, several souls, both human and otherwise, have recently...been relocated, for a lack of a better term. As you know, I'm forbidden from leaving the underworld unless otherwise granted by higher authority. However, I sent one of my guards under the guise of a traveller to ascertain the fate of the disappearing souls."

"Let me guess," Wonder Woman cut in. "They were all turned into the undead."

Hades simply nodded. "With this knowledge, I convinced Zeus to allow me a small group to dispatch of the zombies that had been located and return them to the Underworld. That should have been the end of it, but-"

"But you never found the one who was actually making them into zombies," Diana concluded. "And now more are being raised, and you can't seem to find them all."

"At first, it was only one every other day," Hades went on. "As such, they were barely noticed. After all, there are many, MANY souls to be looked after. Soon enough, though, the numbers increased. By the time I was allowed my party to deal with the problem, over a hundred were gone. However, now they're being raised a dozen a day, and no matter what enchantments are placed upon this realm, there's seemingly nothing that can stop them."

"You seem almost concerned," Diana noted, sounding insincere.

Hades scowled. "Understand, Diana of Themyscira, that ruling over this place is as much a burden as anything else, and it is my duty to oversee the natural order of death. The undead pervert that order, and those they consume also become undead, meaning their souls cannot be transferred here, instead left in their rotting corpse and blackened by the horrors they become and perpetuate. On top of that, if the undead spread too far, there will be no need for an underworld, or my services."

Wonder Woman sighed, looking to the river. "It may be worse than you think. Just before encountering Hitler, I had seen a vision of Washington, D.C., overrun by the undead."

"I wasn't aware visions of the future were among the gifts my fellow Gods granted you," the Lord of the Dead said, his voice dripping with curiosity.

"Neither was I," Diana replied. "But someone wanted me to see what was going to happen."

"Do you have any idea when?" Hades asked.

Wonder Woman shook her head. "Only that it was some time in autumn, which begins in two weeks."

Hades' eye twitched, tapping his cane nervously. "...There may be a thread we can follow: The beast you brought me. It was made up of several that had gone missing, and was rather crudely stitched together. There is one soul that vanished recently that may have been responsible for such acts."

"Who?" Diana inquired.

"One of Hitler's former allies, although I use that term very loosely," Hades answered. "His name is Josef Mengele, and he is one of the most evil human beings to have ever existed."

Diana frowned. "I think I've heard of him. He carried out crude experimentation and torture on prisoners during World War II, correct?"

"Rest assured, the things he did, supposedly in the name of science, are enough to make even my own skin crawl," Hades confirmed. "However, while he was serving time in Tartarus, he learned of the many beasts that exist in the dark depths of the world. I believe he is experimenting on their undead corpses to try to improve them somehow."

"Where can I find him?" Wonder Woman asked.

"That's where my help on the situation falters, I'm afraid," Hades responded. "I'm sorry, Diana, but you're going to have to track him on your own. And track him down you'll have to, as he may be the only lead we have to the cause of all of this."

Diana sighed, and with that, she turned to leave, not wanting to stay another minute in such a dreadful place. Still, she had at least gotten what information she could out of Hades. Unfortunately, she realised, as she approached the exit back to the world above, it still wasn't enough, and she had no idea where to find this Mengele, or who to speak to about tracking him down.

_Well, I guess there is ONE person I could call, _Wonder Woman realised as she stepped out into the sun. _But, knowing him, I'm going to need to be wearing something LESS appropriate..._

* * *

_****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ So first off, lemme address the fact that I'm using date/time stamps at the beginning of chapters and after breaks. This is to address the ticking clock counting down to the zombie apocalypse. Reason I didn't have it in the first chapter is because it would've given away the fake out.

Second, Artemis and Philippus. Long story short, since Gail Simone was planning to have the two get married when she was writing Wonder Woman, a move that was actually supported by Dan Didio (Yeah, I know, Mr. No-Marriages was gonna let that happen), they are now a married couple in this story.

Third, if I haven't made this point clear already, let me just state it here: Wonder Woman will not kill people. She will slay the hell outta monsters, demons, the undead, and possibly one or two aliens, but she will not kill human beings. She's more understanding of the necessity of it than Superman or Batman, especially in war, but if there is ANY other option, not matter how implausible or how much more difficult it makes her job, she will not kill people. So, just in case there was anybody wondering where my version of Wonder Woman stands on killing her bad guys, there's your answer.

Fourth, regarding the visions. There IS an individual responsible for feeding the visions to Diana and Hippolyta, and if you have knowledge of a lot of the various characters in the DC Universe and paid really keen attention to how it played out for Hippolyta, you might be able to guess who it is.

Finally, in regards to Hades, I picked that appearance for him because it's my favourite of his various looks over the years in DC. I just like the idea of him dressed like an undertaker, and actually having a certain air of style and sophistication to him. As for his character, he's very much neutral in terms of alignment. Watching over the underworld is his job. He really doesn't give a rat's ass for the troubles of humanity and if people die, but for the sake of his duties, he can't sit back and do nothing while this is going on. He's obviously been doing this for a long time, and has seen a lot of horrific atrocities, but there are still the odd occurrences where someone does something that will even disturb him.

Anyway, check back in as Diana goes to meet with a VERY familiar face to see if they can dig up any info for her. Ja né!


	3. Chapter 3

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 10th, 1:00 PM, EST_  
_Miami, Florida_

Diana sighed, looking herself over. She was wearing dark sunglasses, a gold hairband with matching hoop earrings, a tight red tank top, equally tight blue short shorts with white star patterns, and white sandals. Not exactly what she was most comfortable with, and didn't leave much of her figure left for the imagination, but it was still appropriate for the beach she was currently visiting. Sure enough, most people around were dressed similarly, if not in even less modest, tighter, more revealing, and far flashier beach attire, meaning even Wonder Woman blended in just perfectly.

Trudging along the sandy beach for a few minutes, she eventually found the man she was looking for: A blonde man in his early thirties, in a pair of shorts, relaxing on a towel and taking in the sun's rays. Diana couldn't help but roll her eyes at how silly he looked. But then, the blonde Air Force pilot always WAS a little silly, which was part of his charm. Still, even that wasn't what she liked best about him.

"Well, hel-looooo, beautiful!" the man exclaimed as Diana came closer.

"Steve," Diana replied with a smile, sitting on a towel next to his. "It's been a while."

"Too long, Angel," Steve Trevor noted, Diana smirking at the use of his nickname for her. "Everyone at the office misses you, y'know."

"I'll bet," Diana responded. "How's Etta doing?"

"MUCH better," Steve answered. "Getting over her eating disorder, and put back on a few pounds to get to a much healthier weight. She's not overweight or anything, but she's curvy, which is a lot better for her."

Diana sighed with relief. For as long as she had known her, Etta Candy had been insecure with her weight. It reached a point where she had lost so much weight without regard for her health that she fainted from a lack of food. It took an intervention from Diana, Steve, and pretty much everyone at Etta and Steve's branch in the Air Force, to convince her to try for a more sensible diet. Diana remembered how frightening it was to see her friend practically looking like a stick before they talked to her.

"So, what say we get down to business?" Steve asked, catching his Amazon friend slightly off-guard. "It isn't everyday you ask to meet completely out of the blue, which tells me that there's something seriously up."

Diana nodded. "Much as I wish we could meet more often, you're unfortunately right on the money. I need to know what you know about Josef Mengele."

"The Nazi?" Trevor inquired, blinking in surprise. "Um, isn't he kinda dead? Like, for 40 years or so now?"

"He's been raised as a zombie," Diana explained, Steve's shoulders slumping as he gave a sort of 'Of course' look. "And he's not alone. I had a run-in with his former commander in Washington yesterday. After I punched him out, I took him back to-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up!" Steve exclaimed, waving his hands. "You punched out Hitler?"

"Not just regular Hitler," Diana noted, "zombie Hitler in a tank."

The Air Force pilot looked flabbergasted, his hands dropping weakly. "I miss EVERYTHING these days."

Diana smiled her trademark smile. "I'll tell you what: If I ever get into a brawl with the Taliban, I'll be sure to call you."

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Angel," Steve Trevor said. "Anyway, Mengele. You said he was a zombie now?"

Diana nodded. "And he's decided to take undead monsters and mix and match their parts to create even deadlier ones. I need to find him, and fast. I have reason to believe the undead are going to make a massive attack on the capital. I don't know exactly when, only that if it goes as planned, I won't be able to stop them."

"Aw, crap," Steve cursed. "And last I heard, Superman was off-world, so we can't call him in, and Batman's always impossible to get ahold of."

"Right, which means we're on our own," Diana confirmed. "I spoke with Hades. He said he can't stop these dead from rising, and there's no way to trace them after they leave the underworld. So I need to know everything you know about Mengele, and try to figure out where he might be hiding now."

Steve sighed, thinking back. "Well, let's see. His body was found in a grave under the name 'Wolfgang Gerhard', and at some point, his body was cremated, and the ashes were kept by Brazilian officials. But that doesn't really help much with locating him since Hitler died in Germany and he showed up in Washington."

"Hold on, why were his ashes kept by Brazilian officials?" Diana asked, confused. "Shouldn't his family have kept them?"

"They wouldn't take 'em," Trevor answered. "I don't blame 'em, either. But there was rumours he might have had allies in Brazil, maybe even a hideaway."

"Any chance he could be using that hideaway now?" Diana suggested. "To continue his work?"

Steve shrugged. "Be as good a place to start looking, but-"

Steve was cut off as the people on the beach started screaming in terror at the sight of a tidal wave approaching the beach. He and Diana immediately stood up, ready to run, until they spotted a pair of children playing in the sand. Without a second's hesitation, Diana leaped forward, sailing over to the two children as the tidal wave approached them. Just as she landed in front of the children, the wave came over them, much to Steve's horror.

"DIANA!" he yelled, but as the wave began to dissipate, he watched as the three appeared unharmed, a barely visible dome surrounding them. It then reformed into a floatation device of some sort, carrying them back to land. A mother came running over in hysterics, Diana handing the children over before she got off the float, the device shrinking down into a small mass of malleable goop in the form of a disc in the palm of her hand.

"Jeez, Angel, why you gotta scare me like that?" Steve exclaimed, his heart returning to its usual beating pattern. "What IS that, anyway? Some new toy?"

"No, just an old one I taught some new tricks," Diana replied with a grin.

Suddenly, out in the water, the source of the tidal wave made itself known, as a red-haired woman in an orange one-piece swimsuit emerged. As she did, she quickly began to expand, growing to at a hundred feet tall in a matter of moments. She glared down at Steve Trevor with a slightly less than sincere smile, cracking her rather sizeable knuckles.

"Hello, Steven," the giantess said. "Remember me?"

"Giganta?" Diana demanded.

"Sounds like she's still bitter..." Steve muttered, getting a rather incredulous glare from Diana.

"Steven Rockwell Trevor, tell me you DIDN'T," the Amazon demanded.

"Naw, I didn't!" Steve insisted. "And that's the problem! Last time we brought her in, she kept making eyes at me, asking if I'd like to go to dinner with her when she got out. 'Course, I don't date criminals, and I didn't know any place that sold bananas by the cartful, either..."

Diana face-palmed and groaned. "Whatever, I will deal with this."

As Giganta stomped toward the beach, Diana tossed the goop in her hand up into the air, then began to spin. A quick array of flashing lights later, she was in her Wonder Woman costume, and the goop landed back on the ground next to her, reforming into an almost completely invisible plane. Leaping into the cockpit, Wonder Woman lifted the jet off the ground, hovering in the air in front of Giganta.

"Wonder Woman!" Giganta declared, smirking. "Was wondering when I'd get another shot at you!"

Diana gripped the controls of the invisible jet tightly. "Let's go."

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_An undisclosed location in Brazil_

Adolf Hitler felt his resurrected stomach lurch as he fell to the ground. One moment ago, he was being returned to Tartarus, the next he felt like he was being pulled away by his insides. He groaned as he lay on his hands and knees, panting hard. Slowly, he began to take in his surroundings: Some sort of steel structure with various scientific instruments and massive cages here and there. Based on all this, the temperature, and the fact that there were no windows anywhere, Adolf guessed he was in some kind of underground base.

"Welcome back, mein Führer..."

Hitler looked to his left to see a man in a Nazi uniform exiting an elevator. He seemed oddly calm, despite the blood stains on his attire, the sick work he'd no doubt just done and the high amounts of crazy that Adolf knew lay just behind those eyes of his.

"Mengele!" Hitler yelled, fighting to get to his feet. "So they were right, you ARE the crafter of those abominations!"

"It's been quite the challenge, I assure you," Mengele noted, walking over to assist Hitler. "Especially for some of the more dangerous creatures I've come across, but those that have survived the process are now improved beyond-"

Josef was cut off as Adolf levelled him with a right hook across the jaw. "Dummkopf! You have to stop these experiments, NOW!"

Mengele backed off, looking like someone who had just killed their childhood pet killed before their eyes. "I-I don't understand! I thought you would approve of these creatures! Imagine what they can do for us, mein Führer. We no longer need tanks, jets, ammunition, or weapons of mass destruction. Nein, THESE can be our weapons of mass destruction!"

"Herr doktor, get ahold of yourself!" Hitler demanded, grabbing Josef by the collar. "What we did in the war, we did it to bring about a better world, one ruled by the superior race. These monsters care not for our cause, only to ravage and destroy, and when they have finished with our enemies, whom do you think they shall annihilate next? You cannot con-ARGH!"

Adolf fell to his knees as intense pain ripped through his dusty old spine. He groaned in agonising pain as a single individual in dark clothes walked past him from behind, only his right hand visible to the heavily blurred vision currently available to Adolf. With every bit that the figure clenched their fist, more pain seared through Hitler's body. Mengele said and did nothing, though watching this seemed to bring him pain as well.

"You told me he would be more co-operative with our goals, Mengele," the figure said in a deep, dull voice.

"He will!" Josef insisted. "Give him time, he will come around."

The dark man simply glared a hole through Mengele, unconvinced. "You'll understand if I don't necessarily share your optimism. I did not raise you both so you could further hold back my goals."

"No, you brought them back because I commanded it!"

Hitler was barely able to turn his head to face the source of this new voice, and gasped in awe at what he saw. A tall, muscular man with blonde hair, wearing a green costume with a red cape and bearing a swastika on his chest was standing nearby, looking defiantly at the dark figure. He looked like the very superhuman Hitler had been trying to create all those years ago.

"They are both necessary for the success of the Fourth Reich, and if you want my continued assistance, you will release him at once!" the man yelled.

The dark figure scoffed, releasing Hitler from his supernatural grip. "As you wish, Captain Nazi. Still, he'd best try to be more...enthusiastic with our goals in the future."

Adolf groaned as the pain subsided. He looked at the three figures sharing the room with him, from Mengle to the dark man to the apparently named 'Captain Nazi'. Then, he stared at his hands, which looked grayer than he'd ever seen them, the flesh rotting slightly more with each passing hour since he'd first been risen in his undead form.

_Mein Gott,_ he wondered, clutching his hands hard. _Just what manner of Hell have I wandered into this time?_

* * *

___****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ So, as you probably guessed, Diana is in fact wearing the clothes she wore in the DC Nation animated shorts, which I HIGHLY recommend you go watch, btw. It really highlights the biggest sin of the rejected Wonder Woman series that was supposed to come out a couple of years ago: Changing Diana's back-story isn't nearly as bad as changing her personality and character. As long as she still FEELS like the character, you can experiment all you want. Oh, and also, that IS the Lansinarian Morphing Disk, though for the sake of simplicity, I won't be regularly calling it that. Personally, I like to call it 'That Thing She Used With Kyle Rayner To Net The Moon Up With'. ^_^

About Hitler: NO, I'm not turning him into a good guy. Not really, anyway. Basically, the idea is to show a man who had great power, now having everything stripped away. His power, his army, even the things that make him human. It basically shows how Adolf Hitler the human being reacts to having all of these things happen to him. You don't have to feel sorry for him, but you can at least see that there's still that part of him that's just a guy.

Anyway, check in next time as Wonder Woman engages in probably the biggest geek-out moment I will ever write for Wonder Woman. Ja né!


	4. Chapter 4

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_Miami, Florida_

Wonder Woman gritted her teeth as she flew her invisible jet forward. Soaring around the massive fists of Giganta, she let loose the plane's harpoon, which looped its line around her foe's arm. She then flew around the giantess' body, wrapping up her arms and legs tightly before releasing the line. Diana then leaped out of the plane's cockpit, punching Giganta hard in the face and knocking her over in the water in a gigantic splash.

"Well, that was easy," Diana noted.

However, this feeling of accomplishment was short-lived as Giganta quickly snapped the line off by growing until it broke under the pressure. The red-headed giant of a woman threw a foot straight up as Diana got back into her jet, sending it crashing down into the water. Thankfully for Wonder Woman, though, she managed to reform the plane into a jet ski just before it crashed, riding the waves Giganta created expertly. The Amazon heroine weaved between her opponent's legs, who was stomping and trying to squash her beneath her giant feet, before turning around. She then fired invisible torpedoes from her invisible jet ski, which crashed against Giganta's feet, causing her to cry out and retreat out of the water. Diana flipped off the jet ski as it shrunk back down into its smaller disc shape, landing in the sand.

"Not bad, Wonder Woman," Giganta commented, "but you're still just a fly compared to me."

Diana grinned. "Well then, I guess it's like they say here in Man's World: If you can't beat them..."

Wonder Woman tossed the disc upward and leaped into the air. The disc then morphed into a giant humanoid mech of sorts, Diana getting into the cockpit. The invisible robot's fists curled tightly under its driver's control. Giganta smirked, admittedly impressed with this move by Wonder Woman.

"Ooh, this is gonna get good," Steve commented from the sidelines. "Quick, somebody put on some Ron Wasserman!"

Wonder Woman drove the invisible robot forward and punched Giganta hard, making her back up a couple of feet. The red-haired giantess quickly countered, spinning on her heel to kick Diana's invisible mech in the gut. It stumbled back a bit before barely blocking a pair of jabs from Giganta, then following up with a stiff backhand to her chest. Giganta backed off, but only so she could scoop up a handful of sand, which for her was a significant portion of the beach. She then hurled it against the robot, blocking Diana's view for a moment, just long enough for Giganta to leap up and deliver a dropkick, knocking the mech over.

Diana grunted as the robot fell back-first on the sandy beach, then grabbed ahold of the controls again, rolling to the side to dodge a hard stomp aimed straight for her. "Alright, Mother taught me never to do this in a fight unless absolutely necessary, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Hitting a button in the cockpit, Diana launched one of the invisible robot's fists at Giganta, hitting her in her most sensitive of locations. As Giganta and pretty much every last person watching immediately groaned in agony, the mech's fist reattached, to which Wonder Woman got the robot back on its feet and raced it forward, upper-cutting the giantess in the jaw. Seeing that Giganta was reeling at this point, Wonder Woman leaped out of the robot, lasso in hand. The robot then reshaped, turning into an extension for the lasso. Looping it around Giganta, Diana used all of her might to swing the giantess hard, sending her crashing into the water. She then dived in after her, returning a few moments later with Giganta, shrunken back down and tied up in the Lasso of Truth.

Steve grinned as the crowd cheered. "That's my Angel."

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_Themyscira_

Artemis grunted as she parried another of Philippus' blows with her staff. This was quite a change from their usual sparring session, as Artemis was normally the aggressor with her powerful blows, and Philippus was the one kept on the defensive with her swiftness and stamina. But not today, and it was not a position the red-haired Captain of the Guard liked to find herself in with Philippus, be it in combat or otherwise.

Still, Artemis had a lot on her mind. Distracted by such thoughts, though, Philippus was able to break through her staff. Artemis tried to strike with the two halves, but they were knocked from her hands. Philippus then forced the Captain of the Guard against the stone wall behind her in defeat. Rather than look pleased with herself, though, Philippus looked her wife over in concern.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. "You're not in the fight...which is rather different for you."

Artemis sighed, gently swatting the end of Philippus' staff away. "It's the Queen, and her vision. I can't help but feel like something horrible is on the horizon."

"Come to think of it, since when did she receive incoherent visions?" Philippus wondered aloud. "The only one I can recall ever giving Queen Hippolyta visions is Cassandra, and whilst her visions aren't always the easiest to trust, they were always comprehensible."

"Exactly," Artemis said. "We have no idea what causes these events, if they're even real, and how to prevent them if they are. We know NOTHING, and while you know how much I enjoy testing my skills in combat, I like to know a thing or two about the combat I'm about to enter."

"Well, the Princess is out there handling the situation, so I suppose things could be worse," Philippus noted.

Artemis just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "...My love, if there's one thing I've learned about Man's World, it's that 'It could be worse' are known for being famous last words."

* * *

_September 10th, 2:25 PM, EST_  
_Miami, Florida_

Wonder Woman watched from a rooftop as Giganta was placed into the police van. They had set specialised cuffs on her wrists that kept her growing powers in check, which Diana hoped would be enough to keep her from breaking out of police custody AGAIN. A few moments later, the van drove off, and Diana found herself sharing the rooftop with Steve Trevor, who had finished his report to the police.

"Nice beatdown," Steve commented. "Always great watching you work, Angel."

"I'm just glad I don't have to fight with those hoop earrings," Diana admitted. "Those things are just BEGGING to be yanked on."

Steve cocked an eyebrow. "Doesn't the gigantic ponytail lend itself to be pulled?"

Wonder Woman smirked, putting her arms behind her back. "Try it."

Steve, knowing full well there was a good chance this would end badly for him, but too curious to leave it be, reached over and pulled on Diana's ponytail. As soon as he did, Wonder Woman swung her head, sending Steve Trevor crashing to the rooftop, then pinning him down with a knee. She smirked down at her fallen friend, hands on her hips.

"...Point taken," Steve moaned, Diana helping him up. "Anyway, the bad guy's been taken in, what say we treat ourselves to some dinner before you leave for Brazil?"

"Sorry, on a deadline," Wonder Woman replied as she walked to the edge of the roof, her invisible jet hovering up to meet her.

"Story of our relationship, I guess," Trevor noted, scratching the back of his blond head. "Bad timing."

Sadly, Diana had to admit that this was the truth. Their respective jobs just kept them too busy to get together very often. It wasn't just Steve, either. Diana had grown to miss Etta Candy a great deal, and several of the other men and women that worked with them. But, that was their lot in life, and there wasn't much that could be done to change it. It was why, despite a large amount of attraction between the two, Diana and Steve never truly worked as a couple. As Steve had said, 'bad timing'.

"Well, I'm sure Etta would appreciate it if you took her out for a night of dinner and dancing," Diana suggested, stepping into the jet, but stopping as she felt a hand gently touch hers.

"And if I had someone else in mind to dance with?" Steve asked, his eyes looking a bit desperate.

Diana sighed, smiling. This was the side of Steve Trevor that she couldn't help but be at least a little in love with: When he dropped the macho bravado, when he wasn't the Air Force pilot, when he wasn't the flirt/playboy, but when he was completely honest and sincere with his feelings and what he wanted. It was a side of him he rarely let out, though, and only a handful of people knew why: For all that self-confidence that Steve seemed to be filled with, and he did have plenty, the one thing he was terrified of was being hurt. Not physically, mind you. He dealt with that pretty easily. It was his heart he was scared of getting injured.

"Steve, when you really want to be, you are the sweetest man I know," Diana acknowledged. "But I-"

"But you've got a job to do," Steve finished, his eyes downcast. "Got it."

"You know, Steve, there ARE women out there that have the time that would appreciate spending an evening with THIS Steve Trevor," Diana pointed out. "You don't always have to be Captain Macho."

Steve scoffed, smiling sadly. "Right, like Etta Candy? She just wants a tough guy."

Diana smirked. "I could always put the Lasso of Truth around her, see what she wants then."

"...Yer serious?" Steve inquired. "I always thought she just liked me 'cuz I seemed like a toughie."

"You aren't THAT tough," Diana said, getting a laugh out of both of them. "And second, you'd be surprised. I know a woman who is madly, desperately in love with the strongest man on Earth, but not for his muscles, but for his heart."

"Isn't the heart a muscle?" Trevor asked.

"I thought it was an organ," Wonder Woman replied, confused for a moment. "...Well, regardless-"

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Steve said with a grin. "I dunno, maybe I'll see what she's up to."

"Just remember to be yourself, Steve," Diana advised. "The REAL you."

Steve nodded, slowly letting go of Wonder Woman's hand. Truth was, even in shooting him down, there was something about the way she did it that made him love Diana even more. Just the way she loved the whole world and wanted its people, who could be flipping idiots at times, to find happiness with each other was enough to make his heart melt every time he was near her. She truly was a Wonder Woman, in every sense of the phrase.

"See you 'round, Angel," Steve said.

Diana nodded, giving that grin that made him want to swoon all over again as she climbed into her jet. Giving one final wave, she hit the throttle and flew off, leaving him in her dust once again. Still, for Steve, what a wonderful dust to be left in. However, she was right, and as she flew off, he reached into his pocket, digging out his cell phone and hitting a speed dial.

"...Etta?" he said. "Yeah, it's Steve. Yeah, just got finished meeting with Diana...Say, what are you doing tonight?"

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_An undisclosed location in Brazil_

Adolf sat slumped in the corner of the room, his vision still blurry as the other three in the chamber with him were doing various jobs, looking over different pieces of equipment. The pain had long since gone away, but now Hitler was noticing it was being replaced with something different: A strong, clutching feeling in the bottom of his stomach. He was hungry, and he knew for what, as the scent of blood from Mengele's coat was all too present and all too alluring to his senses.

I'm craving flesh and blood, Hitler realised. The nature of the beast is taking over, it seems.

"...Mengele," Adolf moaned, getting his compatriot's attention. "Tell me, who are those men? The ones behind all of this."

"The blond man is Captain Nazi," Josef replied. "He was genetically altered during the war by his father, one of my assistants, but it was impossible to finish work on him at the time. As such, I had him placed in suspended animation and buried deep underground until such time as the machines could finish the job itself."

Hitler's eyes widened. "Suspended animation? This was possible back in the 1940's?"

"Of course, don't you know anything about science?" Mengele asked, seeming amused by his commander's lack of knowledge on their own technological ingenuity.

"Why did you not simply build one for yourself?" Adolf demanded. "You could have lived."

"I only had enough equipment for one," Josef admitted. "And even if I had more, it required an insanely large amount of energy just to keep one running for the better part of a century, even without the machines finishing the genetic alterations to Captain Nazi. Two would have been impossible, and Captain Nazi was our best possible chance for keeping our cause alive into the next millennium, should the worst happen. Which, as you know, did happen."

Adolf nodded. "And what of the other one? The dark one?"

"I know very little about him," Mengele answered, "only that he is the one who raised us, and the beasts which are being made into my abominations, according to Captain Nazi's will. He calls himself Black Hand."

"Those abominations," Hitler muttered. "Do we truly need them for the Fourth Reich?"

Mengele looked away. "...There is much that you still don't know, mein Führer. The Americans are far more powerful than you think. While their average soldier is no more dangerous than they were in the war, they have powerful allies."

"I've met one," Adolf noted. "The Wonder Woman."

"And she is a powerful one, no doubt," Josef went on. "But there is another who possesses the potential to become even more powerful than her. A being who can absorb the energy from the sun itself to become more powerful than our entire army could have ever hoped to be back in the war. An alien, born on a faraway planet, who now calls Earth his home, and fights for the American people."

"Surely he could not be THAT dangerous," Hitler gasped, to which Mengele shook his head.

"I've seen footage of his earlier endeavours, mein Führer," Mengele argued. "He is faster than our greatest jet fighter, possesses Herculean strength, can withstand blows from war machines far beyond the greatest we could ever have created, can peer through solid stone and earth, and he can even light things aflame just by staring at them! So, when I say that the abominations are necessary for the success of the Fourth Reich, believe me, they are."

Adolf considered all of this for a moment. "...Hold. If he can see through the earth, would that not mean he could find us here before the abominations are finished?"

"Not likely," Captain Nazi interjected, walking over. "Observation of his abilities suggests that he cannot see through lead, and thus the walls of this chamber have been lined with it. And while it's possible he may be able to find clues suggesting where to find us, those are few and far between, and I've left little surprises for him, Wonder Woman, or any other of America's heroes that may be looking for us."

"What sort of surprises do you believe can stop the Amazon?" Hitler asked.

Captain Nazi smirked evilly. "Well, it just so happens that, as we were planning this all out, Black Hand detected a zombie already risen from his grave, one with great power that is surrounded with dark, chaotic energies, thus preventing him from being sent to the underworld. He HAD been locked away in a cell that kept his strength just low enough to keep him from escaping. However, with Black Hand's ability to transport the dead to wherever he chooses, he has been relocated to the most likely location to be searched for us. If one of the heroes goes looking for us, he will kill them."

Adolf said nothing. He simply leaned back, his head resting against the steel wall, and sighed. Looking at his allies, he knew from the looks on their faces that their words were meant to satisfy him, relieve him of his fear, and get him on board with their plans. If anything, all they truly succeeded in doing was making him wish he'd never been raised at all, and to his amazement, he found himself missing the horrid halls of Tartarus.

* * *

___****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ Wonder Woman has a Megazord! YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID! XD

Anyway, I thought I'd make it clear how the Diana/Steve relationship works here, in that they have loving feelings for each other but that they're both too busy to make it work. And NO, I am NOT doing Wonder Woman/Superman. I'm just not going to go there. If you like that pairing, that's fine, but I simply prefer Lois/Clark. Speaking of Superman, though, I thought I'd clarify where he and Wonder Woman rank as far as overall power goes in my universe: For the most part, Wonder Woman outclasses him in land-speed and power. Now, were he to take in a bit extra sun, then he'd be much faster and stronger, but otherwise, no. He is, however, the faster flier. As far as who is the most versatile...that's actually a little bit harder to determine. lol

So, as you can tell, the villains behind this plot are now officially revealed to be Captain Nazi and Black Hand. Again, probably something you might've seen coming. In fact, I was considering calling this Wonder Woman: By Blackest Hand, but that would've just given it away from the get-go. And you can probably tell the most likely way this partnership will wind up, but let's just wait and see what happens.

Check in next time as Wonder Woman sleuths about for Mengele's hideout, and has an epic brawl with one of the biggest, baddest zombies ever. Ja né!


	5. Chapter 5

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 11th, 9:00 AM, EST_  
_3 miles outside of Nova Europa, Brazil_

Wonder Woman sighed, exiting the old and rotting wooden shack. She wasn't what she would really consider a detective, but using her telescopic vision, she had seen various trace elements of chemicals generally found in a lab. Furthermore, she had recognised some of the chemicals Mengele had used throughout his twisted experiments in World War II, meaning that this had to have been at least one hideaway of his at some point. Unfortunately, there had been little to no evidence in the shack that he'd been there recently, or anything suggesting where he might be now. If there was any further evidence to be found at all, this was going to require a more thorough search of the area.

Sweeping across the fields around the shack, Diana eventually found something: A thick, black wire, just barely visible above ground. Must have been slightly uprooted with the changes to the seasons over who knows how many years. Using her enhanced vision, she followed the wire, hoping it led to a clue to Mengele's new hideout. Eventually, the wire came to an end at a tree, or rather, a hollowed-out structure made of bark made to resemble a tree. Diana had to admit to being impressed by the close facsimile. In its artificial branches, she saw a security camera. It didn't seem to be on, meaning there must have been damage done to the wires that was never repaired.

As Diana reached up toward the camera, she barely managed to hear the sound of a small, quiet rumble in the ground. She slowly, gingerly let her right hand drop, taking hold of her lasso. Just as the tiny rumbling reached closer, she spun around, knowing what was coming as the earth exploded outward. A massive, hulking zombie with a noose around his neck and various forms of cutlery stuck in his back sprung toward her, both fists flying forward. Even with her precise timing and skill, Wonder Woman was barely able to dodge-roll around the brute while roping up one of his gigantic fists, swinging him straight through the tree hard. He tumbled across the ground before getting back to his feet, growling angrily at Diana as she landed gracefully a few feet away, hands on her hips and hair flowing in the wind.

"Solomon Grundy," she declared. "I thought you were locked away in Stryker's Island."

"Dark man free Grundy," Grundy replied. "Grundy help Dark man. Grundy break Amazon to pieces!"

With that, Grundy leaped up and slammed the ground hard, sending chucks of it springing up and around. Diana managed to block the smaller pieces with her bracers, but soon found Grundy coming at her with a much larger hunk of earth, shattering it in her face and sending her crashing across the ground for a few feet before digging her heels in and coming to a stop. As the hulking brute came in for another attack, she quickly countered with a fist to his rather large jaw, then grabbed him by the head and drove her knee into his face. As the large, lumbering zombie stumbled back a bit, Wonder Woman swung her lasso, roping up his legs. She then hauled on it hard, first sending him falling back into the dirt, then swinging him over her shoulder to crash into the ground face first.

"Give up?" Wonder Woman asked, clutching her lasso.

"Grundy not spell 'Give up'!" the zombie brute yelled, hauling on the rope hard to bring Diana in closer. Drawing a cleaver from his back, he swung it at the Amazon Princess, catching her in the side of the head with the blunt end. Dazed, Wonder Woman lost her grip on the lasso, letting Grundy free. He held up the cleaver, ready to bring it down on her skull, but Diana was able to regain her bearings just enough to get her bracers up, the cleaver shattering harmlessly across them. She then delivered a head-butt to his chest, the point of her nose-guard cutting him a little. Letting out a roar, Grundy grabbed hold of Wonder Woman's ponytail, looking to toss her, but she made him pay for it with a grin, whipping her hair back with such force it slammed him back down into the dirt.

"Stay down, Gold!" Diana yelled, retrieving her lasso. "You can't beat me!"

Solomon, enraged at the use of his true name, sprung to his feet and swung both arms at Wonder Woman. "MY NAME IS SOLOMON GRUNDY!"

Too fast for Diana to react, Grundy slammed both of his tree-trunk arms across her face. "BORN ON A MONDAY!"

Diana shook her head, freeing the cobwebs just in time to bring her bracers up to block a double axe handle from her foe. "CHRISTENED ON TUESDAY!"

Grundy then grabbed the Amazon Princess by both of her arms and slammed her into the dirt. "MARRIED ON WEDNESDAY!"

Wonder Woman struggled to get back up, but was soon grabbed by the neck and rammed face first into the ground. "TOOK ILL ON THURSDAY!"

Grundy pulled Diana back up, letting her spit out the dirt, only to then stomp on the back of her head, shoving her back down. "GREW WORSE ON FRIDAY!"

Wonder Woman groaned as she again fought to get back up, only to be flung by her legs into a very real tree a few yards away, falling to the ground with it. "DIED ON SATURDAY!"

The brunette Amazon scrambled to get back to her feet, but soon found a large boot to her face as she was barely to a knee. "BURIED ON SUNDAY!"

Wonder Woman fell flat on her back, blood trickling from her nose from that last brutal attack. She groaned as she tried in vain to sit up, only to see Grundy grab the remains of the tree. He walked over to her, growling the whole way as he held it up over his head, glaring down at Diana with murderous intent.

"That was the end of Solomon Grundy!" he bellowed. "And this is the end of puny Amazon!"

Before he could deliver the next blow, though, Diana grabbed her tiara and threw it at Grundy's left forearm. It bounced off of it, cutting it along the way, before doing the same to the right forearm and returning to Wonder Woman's hand, Grundy releasing the tree in pain and causing it to smack him across his head. Getting her second wind as Grundy stumbled a bit, Diana kipped-up, slamming both bracer-covered forearms into Grundy's shoulder-blades. She then proceeded to levitate into the air and bicycle kick him repeatedly for several feet across the now torn-up terrain before getting her lasso around his neck.

Now, normally, this would be FAR outside of Diana's usual tactics, as it could very easily kill someone. However, considering this was Grundy, she knew she could use it since he could take it. Not to mention the fact that, hey, Grundy was a zombie. Not much fear in killing him, seeing as he was already dead. Flipping off Grundy's shoulders flying straight up, she swung him over her by his neck, and then, with a war cry, hauled him in the opposite direction, pile-driving him back down again, almost comically with his head stuck in the ground and the rest of his body completely vertical. After a few moments, he fell onto his back, out cold, much to Diana's relief.

"Never call an Amazon 'puny'," she told him, wiping the blood from her face.

With a deep and loud sigh, Diana eventually regained her bearings after a few moments. She dug out her iPhone, which she'd kept in a sealed, hidden pocket in her skirt, and dialled a number she knew rather easily. Walking over to where the fake tree had toppled over, she dug through the artificial branches to find the security camera, just as the person she called picked up.

"Hello, this is Etta Candy," the person answered.

"Etta, it's Diana," Wonder Woman replied, still panting slightly.

"Di, so glad to hear from you!" Etta said happily. "I heard you talked Stevie into taking me out last night. Wait until I tell you the details-"

"That's going to have to wait," Diana cut her off. "I need your help with something."

"Oh, sure, no problem," Candy responded. "...Are you alright? You sound like you ran a lap around the equator or something."

"Just had a little altercation with Grundy," Wonder Woman answered.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Etta demanded.

"Better than he is," Diana said. "Listen, I need you to dig up information on a company for me. They had security cameras installed in fake trees outside of a shack out past Nova Europa. I have reason to believe it was a hideout for Josef Mengele."

"R-Right, got it," Etta stammered as Diana could hear her typing. "What's the company name?"

Diana read the name on the side of the camera. "Weissland Security Corp."

After a few moments of rapid typing, Etta piped up again. "...Yeah, I got it here. Huh, what do you know? Looks like they went belly-up about a month or two ago after a court case bankrupted them. They were found guilty of recording private property illegally for LexCorp."

Wonder Woman's eyes narrowed. "Lex Luthor. I should've known that man would have SOME sort of involvement in all of this. Can you tell me if there are any other locations they installed security for in southeast Brazil?"

"Checking," Etta answered. "...Presto! Looks like a privately owned research facility in Rio de Janeiro, just outside of the capital. Looks to be run by a foreigner, someone named Professor Albrecht Krieger. Can't seem to find any other information on him or the facility."

"Thanks, Etta," Diana replied, pulling out the disc of malleable goop from her pocket. "Keep at it, see what you can find. Oh, and you might wanna get in touch with the people at Stryker's Island and tell them I'm shipping Grundy back over to them."

"You got it," Candy responded. "Good hunting, Di!"

Diana smiled, hanging up. With that taken care of, she morphed her disc into a giant robot, which walked over and picked up Solomon Grundy. Under her command, relayed through the telepathic abilities her tiara granted her, the robot flew up into the air, taking Grundy with it as it travelled back to Styker's Island, leaving her to head to Rio de Janeiro. Of course, she guessed it wouldn't be as simple as waltzing in the front door, meaning it was time for a slightly different tactic for her.

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_A private research facility on the outskirts of the city of Rio de Janeiro_

Captain Nazi watched as the leader of the Nazi cause lay weakly in the corner of the room. He seemed far more delicate and vulnerable than he'd ever imagined. However, he was sure it was likely just a result of being put through the zombification process. Soon, he would not only have his former strength back, but he would grow even more powerful, and with a far greater army at his beck and call.

"I can no longer sense Solomon Grundy's consciousness," Black Hand declared as he clenched his right fist, dark energy crackling across it. "Clearly, whoever he fought at Mengele's former hideaway managed to knock him out."

Captain Nazi scowled. "I thought you said that he could get the job done?"

"Apparently not," Black Hand replied. "It doesn't really matter, though. Even if they could find ANYTHING at that old shack to lead them back here, you have far more power than Grundy, and I doubt the one who fought him is in much shape to combat you one-on-one now."

The blond, muscle-bound German growled, turning away. "Just to be on the safe side, you should check with Mengele to see how the abominations are progressing, in case we need further aid in crushing whoever defeated Grundy. I have far too much at stake to let it fall apart now."

Black Hand nodded, heading to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he held his hand open, dark plumes of smoke floating up from it as he felt the souls of the damned start to emerge from the underworld en masse in zombie form. He didn't care who they were, what nationality they were, or when and how they were killed. He just went for the most stained souls he could find, raising them as zombies in an underground cavern he'd dug out over the years, all in preparation for the day when the dead would overtake the living.

_It's time to begin,_ Black Hand realised, feeling the numbers grow in the cave. _Which means it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff._

* * *

_____****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ Okay, I need to level with you guys on something: This chapter was actually really hard to write. Why? Because I had to have Diana get her ass kicked a little bit before coming out victorious. And already, I can tell that there is probably at least one person out there that has a problem with me showcasing a woman getting the snot kicked out of her. If you feel this way, I apologise, but I stand by what I wrote here. Wonder Woman is a superheroine, meaning sometimes she _**has** _to be shown to be in peril. It would get boring if she came out of every fight unscathed. Grundy had to get at least some good hits on her for this story to be taken remotely seriously. If that bothers you, I suggest you stop reading now, because the fights only get harder for Diana from here on out.

With Black Hand and Captain Nazi, you had to believe their partnership was gonna be rocky at best. Now it's becoming clear that they are both using each other for their own goals, and given how power-mad and just plain evil both can be, it's only a matter of time before one betrays the other. Care to guess who that'll be?

Anyway, be sure to check in next time, because if you thought Grundy gave Wonder Woman trouble, there's a far more powerful opponent waiting for her next chapter. Ja né!


	6. Chapter 6

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 12th, 12:15 AM, EST_  
_A private research facility on the outskirts of the city of Rio de Janeiro_

Diana never truly liked sneaking around in the shadows, wearing all black. Not that she minded someone like Batman doing it, mind you. It just wasn't her style to break into places like this under the cover of darkness. However, she knew the likelihood of being let in by asking nicely, and going in through pure force wasn't really an option either, especially given some information Etta had managed to dig up on Professor Albrecht Krieger just after she arrived in Rio de Janeiro, so what else could she do?

Thankfully for Diana, she WAS a master of disguise, having a number of outfits and costumes at home that she could quick-change into at a whim no matter where she was with one quick spin. Definitely one of her more useful abilities. As such, she had an all black jumpsuit and mask ready for situations like this: Breaking into what looked like a single floor research facility. But Diana knew better. If Mengele was really in there, and conducting his evil experiments to create the abominations, there was more to this facility than met the eye.

There were two doors leading into the building, both with security cameras installed. Neither was an option, meaning Diana only had one way in: The ventilation shaft on the roof. Being as careful and as quiet as possible, she pried the gate to it off, slipping inside. Crawling through, she eventually found a section she could peek through, seeing only standard R&D equipment for non-hazardous chemicals and whatnot. As she suspected, this meant the REAL facility was underground, meaning there had to be an elevator shaft hidden somewhere.

Waiting for a bit, Diana eventually watched as a man in a lab coat emerged from a hidden door in the wall, which was most certainly a lift of some sort. Taking out her iPhone, she pulled up a photo taken of Mengele decades ago that Steve had sent her. Despite the obvious ageing to the photo, and to the person, plus the fact that his skin was showing signs of decay, there was no doubt: This was Josef Mengele. And now, not only was she certain this was the right place, but she knew where the elevator shaft was, meaning she could find his experiments and put an end to this zombie apocalypse LONG before it starts.

Continuing through the shaft, Diana eventually found the hatch leading into the elevator shaft, but she'd have to wait until it went back down to make use of it. Waiting a bit, Mengele eventually re-entered the hidden elevator, and Diana waited until it went down a level before crawling out, watching as the elevator went down what she guessed was at least three stories worth of distance. Levitating down, she waited for just the right moment, when the elevator stopped, before tearing a panel from the roof of the elevator and hauling Josef Mengele out with her lasso, which she'd kept hidden under her shirt.

"Tell me where the abominations are," Diana ordered, the Lasso of Truth glowing.

"I was j-just headed to them now," Mengele answered. "On this floor."

"Are there any security cameras there?" Diana asked, Mengele shaking his head. "And is that the only place you've hidden them?"

"N-N-No," Josef stammered, clearly trying to fight the lasso and failing. "I-I've been creating th-them here, b-but HE moves them t-to diff-f-f-ffernet locations...!"

"Do you mean Krieger?" Diana inquired.

"Hisssss assisssssstant...!" Mengele groaned. "The one that callllsss himmmsselllf...Bllack...HaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNND !"

Suddenly, before Diana's eyes, Josef Mengele burst into black, mystical flame. The flame didn't spread or burn anything else, merely staying with him and turning his zombie body turning to ashes. Diana's eyes widened at the horrible sight, backing away. As Josef's ashes lay on the elevator roof, Diana knew this meant that the one responsible for raising him, possibly this 'Black Hand' fellow, knew she was here, which meant there was little point in being subtle or stealthy anymore. She realised in her mind that she'd had enough, as she dropped down into the elevator and proceeded out of it, a quartet of zombie Nazi soldiers stood to her sides with rifles in hand, having just materialized.

"Aufhalten!" one soldier demanded, to which Diana raised her hands, seemingly in surrender.

Once she was held at gunpoint, Diana looked forward to a large, blond man in a green costume, red cape, and a swastika on his chest. "...Albrecht Krieger, I assume? Or should I call you Captain Nazi?"

"You're well-informed," Krieger commented. "Tell me, how did you find this place?"

"A little tip," Diana offered, "when the security cameras for one of your colleague's hideaways go offline, it's a good idea to replace them before someone comes across them and traces them back to your secret underground lair."

"Noted," Captain Nazi replied. "Shoot her."

Just as the soldiers were about to open fire, Diana spun hard, punching one in the face while kicking another's gun away, then repeating with the other two as she spun around. As she continued to spin, throwing punches and flying kicks, her clothes began to change in an array of flashing lights. She came to a halt, facing Captain Nazi in her Wonder Woman costume, her ponytailed hair cracking the last zombie Nazi standing hard across the face.

"Ahh, the Wonder Woman," Krieger said with a smirk. "I've seen many of your accomplishments on video, and mein Führer told me the rest."

"So, Hitler's been brought back from Tartarus again," Wonder Woman noted. "Is that what all of this is about? Bringing back the Nazis to start World War III? You don't owe Hitler or his regime anything. I know what happened to you, Albrecht. Your father turned you into a super-soldier, put you in suspended animation, took away your chance for an ordinary life. You would fight for that cause after all of that?"

"My father gave me a wondrous gift!" Captain Nazi shot back. "I am more than a man, I am the culmination of Hitler's vision of humanity perfected! I AM the superman!"

"I know someone in Metropolis who would argue that point," Diana argued. "And so would I."

"Why, because you stand for American ideals?" Krieger scoffed. "Because you, an Amazon, and he, an alien, would stand against me for America?"

"No!" Wonder Woman yelled. "It's because I believe in a better world, one formed out of peace, equality, and compassion! Because I choose to stand for the preservation of life, not spreading death!"

"The undead are a means to an end," Captain Nazi stated. "Which reminds me..."

Krieger held a hand up and snapped his fingers. At this command, a massive beast came crashing through the wall behind him, leaping over him and at Diana. It was a mass of tentacles and spider-legs coming from a spider's cephalothorax, with a giant crocodile head stitched on, looking to bite down on Wonder Woman. The Amazon warrior's shoulders slumped slightly at the sight of this terror coming at her, its lower jaw digging through the floor.

"Oh, crap," she muttered.

Not having any time to dodge, Diana could only get her arms up as the massive jaws bit down around her. Keeping her arms crossed, she managed to hold the abomination's jaws from coming down all the way, and was just barely keeping away from its teeth. She grunted as she tried to keep it that way, but she was at a VERY distinct disadvantage. However, looking straight ahead, she saw the one thing that could possible save her, even if it meant doing something horribly disgusting. Dropping one arm to grab her lasso, the monster now gaining further advantage on her, she swung the golden rope around and tugged on her salvation: The monster's uvula.

Gagging horribly, the abomination released its hold on Diana, giving her the chance to escape with her lasso as the beast vomited into the elevator. Covering her mouth at the horrible smell, Wonder Woman flew up and proceeded to drop-kick the undead monster hard, sending its head crashing into the elevator and getting it stuck in there. Despite the efforts of its many legs, it could not get free. With this done, Wonder Woman threw her tiara at the vent just over the elevator door, flying into the shaft and tearing the cord apart before sailing back to her, the massive zombie forced down with the elevator as it crashed at the bottom of the shaft. She turned away as flames, smoke, guts, and vomit erupted in the shaft to face Captain Nazi, who hadn't moved an inch from the spot he was standing.

"Ready to fight me yourself yet?" Diana asked, fists clenched.

Captain Nazi grinned, giving his neck a small crack as he stretched out. "I suppose you've been warmed up enough!"

With that, Captain Nazi launched himself forward, catching Wonder Woman off-guard with his speed and the ability to fly. He shoulder tackled the Amazon into a wall, giving a couple of punches to her face before she managed to get a bracer up to block the third, quickly head-butting him off of her. Springing off the wall, she knocked him back even further with a drop-kick to the chest, flipping over him. Krieger returned the favour by levitating off the ground and landing a spinning drop-kick that drove Diana across the room and through the hole the abomination had made. Eventually, Diana was able to dig her heels in and swat him away, but he simply landed on his feet, smirking confidently.

Diana took a quick glance around, noticing several undead monsters in cages all around the room. "Quite the zoo you had Mengele build."

"Glad you approve," Captain Nazi replied. "After all, when I'm done with you, I'm going to feed you to them."

Once again, Nazi sped toward her, sliding across the floor with his legs forward. Wonder Woman leaped up to dodge, nailing Krieger with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head, but he just laughed it off, grabbing her leg and flinging her across the room. He then leaped up, looking to stomp both feet into her head, but Diana managed roll away before swinging her legs up and around, catching Nazi in the chest. Getting back to her feet, Diana blocked a series of punches with her bracers, but was soon caught with a knee to the gut. Nazi grinned, grabbing Wonder Woman's hair hard and repeatedly punching her in her stomach, getting three shots in before she swung her ponytail back, sending Krieger crashing into a cage. The beast inside, a wolf with lion feet and eagle wings, howled at him, but Nazi simply punched it in the head, knocking it to the back of its cage with a whimper.

"I see even the creatures in your employ don't care much for you," Wonder Woman observed, wiping the sweat otherwise rare for her from her forehead. "Can't say as I blame them."

Growling, Nazi grabbed the bars of the cage, actually hoisting it up over his head. Smirking at his mistake, Diana whipped out her lasso, wrapping the rope around his arms. She then leaped up and stomped down on the lasso hard, causing Krieger to drop the giant cage on himself, crashing to the floor. However, after a moment, she felt him tug on the lasso, sending her crashing into the steel bars of the cage. Captain Nazi then emerged from the floor, having apparently broken a hole in it under the cage, and drove an elbow into her gut hard. Wonder Woman backed off, a small trickle of blood emerging from the corner of her mouth as Nazi pursued her, the lasso still wrapped around his arms. He swung them hard, causing the end of the lasso to whip Diana hard in the face, but she then grabbed hold of it, shoving Nazi face first into the floor.

Diana fell to a knee, panting hard. All of the battles she'd been in as of late were catching up with her. Even with her fast healing and enhanced stamina, between the short skirmish of sorts with Hitler, the zombie soldiers, the abominations, Giganta, Grundy, and now Captain Nazi, she was running on fumes. Worse, she was almost certain that Nazi knew it, which was exactly why he had her fight the beast before him, just to soften her up even more. Still, there was one thing left she could do, usually reserved for emergency cases only since it was horrid on her stamina and dexterity.

"You're getting to be annoying, Amazon," Nazi declared, getting to his feet. "I should've ended this right away."

"You're right," Diana replied, placing her right hand on her left bracer. "You should have."

With a quick twist, Wonder Woman felt the bracer come loose, Krieger watching in confusion. "What is this, some kind of trick?"

"My powers were granted to me from birth by the Gods of Olympus," the Amazon explained, putting a hand on her remaining bracer. "While the bracers I wear now are made from the Aegis, the symbolism behind them is the same as the ones worn by the other Amazons, in that it is a sign of our former enslavement by Man, and our servitude to the Gods and their divine wisdom."

"Just what are you getting a-?" Nazi demanded, Diana quickly cutting him off.

"As a result, wearing them actually limits some of the strength and speed that Demeter and Hermes blessed me with," Wonder Woman went on, twisting her bracer. "And as Mother once told me, before I was given bracelets of my own, I was a bit...challenging for her."

Calling Diana's bluff, Captain Nazi immediately charged her, throwing a punch as the second bracer fell to the ground. Just as he was about to connect his fist into her jaw, her hand reached up, stopping his fist with a single finger. She then punched his fist with her own, sending out a shockwave that sent Nazi sliding back several feet, his eyes wide with bewilderment.

"Oh, one other thing I should mention," Wonder Woman said, cracking her knuckles and smiling. "While we Amazons see it as our mission to make the world a peaceful one through understanding and compassion, we also like to test ourselves in competition. Now then, Round 2?"

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_The River Styx_

Hades yelled out as he slammed a fist into the stone wall behind him. Hundreds, dare-say hundreds of hundreds, had just been taken from nearly every last known corner of the underworld. The list of names were still coming in, and he was sure this was merely the beginning. Whoever was behind all of this, they were clearly out to create a horde capable of overtaking the living, and if the living were killed and made undead as well, the balance of nature could be rocked even further.

Tapping his cane, trying to think, Hades eventually came to an idea. "Alexa!"

Within moments of his call, the soul of a red-haired Amazon he'd long since made as a personal aid to him came running in from around a corner. She had a book in her hand, naturally, as even in the underworld, she was obsessed with reading and gathering information, knowledge, and wisdom. Still, she was a rather optimistic young soul, and wasn't too judgemental, which was a godsend for one such as Hades to have as an assistant.

"You called, Lord Hades?" Alexa asked nervously.

"The souls that were raised up until now," Hades instructed. "Has there been any sort of pattern to them at all?"

Alexa nodded. "Actually, upon further investigation, it seems the majority of souls taken were all either colossal beasts, like the ones that were stitched together into that monstrosity that came through before, and a large number of Nazi soldiers. Well, at least that WAS the case, but the most recent rising seems to have been...well, rather random. Souls of every nationality, ethnicity, age, era, alignment, and so on."

Hades furrowed his brow. "So, whoever is responsible simply grabbed as many as he could all at once...Something is happening up there, Alexa."

"What of Diana?" Alexa inquired. "Has there been any word since the last time she visited?"

"No word," Hades answered. "It may have been a mistake to trust in her."

"I wouldn't write her off just yet," Alexa replied. "There is a reason she is the greatest of all Amazons. She won't fail."

Hades sighed, casting his gaze out to the River Styx, devoid of incoming souls. "Were I as optimistic as you, child..."

* * *

_____****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ So, a couple of things I wanted to note. First off, Alexa is from the 2009 Wonder Woman movie. She was basically an Amazon bookworm that was killed by Aries, then was brought back as a zombie under his control to attack her sister Artemis, only to relay a spell to Artemis that allowed her to free Alexa and the others from Aries' control. As you can see, she is likewise Artemis' late sister here, though she now works as a sort of assistant to Hades, while also keeping him somewhat afloat emotionally with her optimism.

Second, I decided to let Wonder Woman keep her little Shadow the Hedgehog trick (leave me alone, that's just what I think of when I see it), albeit without the berserker affect on her mind. I figured it would actually make a bit of sense that wearing the bracers, while giving her the ability to deflect projectiles, would limit the strength and speed granted to her by the Gods, so there you are. In this state, the full extent of her powers is unleashed all at once. However, it does come with a pretty obvious drawback: She can only use it for so long before the strain on her overall vitality causes her to collapse.

Third, as you can tell from this chapter, the fights with the abominations are getting just a touch grosser. As I warned, the M rating is for later chapters, as battles with the undead would of course lend themselves to being unpleasant.

Lastly, as you may have guessed, Captain Nazi's fighting style had a little inspiration to it from outside the DC Universe. I was actually watching M. Bison vs Shao Khan from DEATH BATTLE before writing this. XD

Anyway, check in next time as Wonder Woman's brawl with Captain Nazi continues, and Hitler's own arc throughout this story comes to its conclusion. Ja né!


	7. Chapter 7

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 12th, 12:35 AM, EST_  
_A private research facility on the outskirts of the city of Rio de Janeiro_

Wonder Woman let out a battle cry as she charged Captain Nazi, too fast for him to follow, and shoulder-tackled him through the opening in the floor. Crashing to the floor below, she quickly flipped off him, landing a couple of feet away. Nazi growled in irritation, kipping-up and getting into a fighting stance. The two circled each other, waiting for the first person to make a move. It wasn't a long wait, as Krieger leaped up, looking to stomp both feet into Diana's skull, only to have both feet caught and get thrown back down to the floor. He managed to sweep a leg, tripping the Amazon up, but the attempt at dropping an elbow into her stomach ended with him banging it against the floor as she rolled out of the way. He then found Wonder Woman on his back, trying to get him in a sleeper hold, only for him to slam his hands down and flip onto his back, driving her to the floor on her spine. She released her hold on him, giving Krieger the chance to turn her on her front and wrench her arms back hard, his foot between her shoulder-blades.

"Surrender, Amazon!" Captain Nazi yelled, wrenching back as hard as he could on Diana's arms.

"Dream on!" Wonder Woman shouted back, lashing him in the face with her ponytail.

Nazi recoiled in pain, his foot leaving Diana's back, giving her the ability to lift her legs up and flip him off of her, sending him crashing into the ceiling. Just as he came back down, Wonder Woman got back to her feet and slammed him into the wall with both fists. Getting sick of this, Krieger grabbed a pipe from the wall and swung it for Diana's head, missing by a mile and receiving a number of jabs to the gut for his troubles. Wonder Woman then hoisted him up on her shoulders, slamming him back first through a wooden table.

"Had enough yet?" she asked her fallen opponent.

Captain Nazi chuckled, wiping the blood from his lip. "Heh heh, not even CLOSE!"

With everything he had, Nazi leaped up and tackled Diana down. He punched her relentlessly as they crashed through the floor, then another. Before they could crash through a third, though, Wonder Woman was able to get her lasso out and use it to swing the two around, sending Nazi smashing face first through the floor and then a table below it, finally coming to a stop. He moaned pathetically as she got up off of him, lying face down in the wreckage of the table.

Looking around, Wonder Woman noticed Hitler curled up in the corner of the room, panting heavily. On closer inspection of him, after walking over to him, it was clear his skin was beginning to rot more and more, his eyes looking more sunken and bloodshot, and his hair thinner. He looked up at her, pleadingly, tears actually flowing from his eyes, and mouthing the words 'Help me' over and over, and in that moment, Princess Diana of Themyscira felt sorry for Adolf Hitler. Maybe it was punishment for his many crimes, a part of some plan that even she, who was granted with wisdom from Athena herself, couldn't understand. And true, for all he had done, he more than likely deserved what was happening to him. But that didn't change the fact that Diana couldn't in good conscience leave him like this.

Helping Adolf up to his feet, Diana looked over to Captain Nazi as he tried to get to his hands and knees. "You've lost, Krieger. I'm returning Hitler to the underworld, something you should have done when this started to happen to him. After that, I'm coming back for you."

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

Diana looked ahead to the dark figure stepping out from the elevator shaft, which she had earlier rendered useless. He wore an all black costume and cape from his head to his toes, save for his right arm, which was completely bare and appeared to have rotted slightly. Dark energy cracked across his bare arm, and he stared with cruel, malicious intent at Wonder Woman, who was beginning to feel the effects of her unleashed strength drain what already low amounts of energy she had left.

"Black Hand, I presume?" Diana guessed.

"I see Mengele managed to get my name out before I ended him," Black Hand said. "How regrettable."

"You did WHAT?" Nazi demanded. "That wasn't part of the deal!"

Black Hand rolled his dark eyes. "Tell me something, Krieger: Do you feel like you're in control here?"

Before Captain Nazi could ask further, a puff of black fog erupted around him, forming chains of dark electricity around him. In his weakened state, having just fought and lost to Wonder Woman, he was no match for the chains, and could only cry out in pain as the electricity tightened around him. As this went on, it seemed like the very life force inside of him was being sapped away.

"What are you doing?" Wonder Woman shouted.

"Sapping what energy he has left, of course," Black Hand replied, clenching his fist hard. "After all, he's not exactly much use to me anymore."

With a yell, Diana dropped Hitler and charged Black Hand, only for him to grab her by the throat with his other hand, choking her in the air. "And in your current state, you aren't much of a threat either."

"You used Nazi," Wonder Woman declared between gags. "Why? What are you after?"

"I've wanted to raise my own undead army for over half a decade now," Black Hand answered, shoving Wonder Woman against the wall. "I was nearly ready to begin, but more and more of you so-called 'superheroes' started popping up all over the place, almost as if you were the second coming of the Justice Society and it was World War II all over again. How ironic, then, that of all people to come to me, looking to make use of my certain set of skills, was the last remaining remnant of the Third Reich. And, given his somewhat remarkable abilities, it seemed like a wise investment, since he would act as my shield when one of you heroes got wind of what was going on."

"You lying bastard, Hand!" Captain Nazi howled over having his energy sapped and his body zapped. "I'll kill you for this!"

Black Hand laughed at the fallen Nazi. "You can't even get up! And soon, neither will Wonder Wom-ARGH!"

The dark necromancer cried out in pain as he felt the flesh of his exposed arm bit down into. Diana opened an eye to see Adolf had gotten to his feet, and now had a death grip on Black Hand's right arm, biting it hard. Black Hand slammed the zombie Nazi leader against the wall, then clenched his fist hard, making Adolf's zombie body explode into black smoke and flame. This, however, gave Wonder Woman just the opening to kick Black Hand off of her. Seeing the wounds to his arm and the fact that Wonder Woman, however fatigued, was still able to fight, Black Hand decided it was best to make his escape, disappearing into a black fog.

"Come back here, you...!" Diana cried, stumbling slightly. "You...you bas...!"

Tripping over a leg of the table, Wonder Woman collapsed next to the now unconscious Captain Nazi. Knowing she was fading fast, she sent out a telepathic command to her invisible jet to return as soon as Grundy was in custody, hoping it would arrive in time. Once the message was away, Diana let herself roll onto her back, the darkness of sleep overtaking her as all turned black.

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_Themyscira_

Hippolyta gasped, clutching her chest as she dropped the vase she was making. She backed against a wall, trying to regain proper breathing, as her subjects immediately swarmed her to help her to a chair. She eventually was seated, noticing Artemis and Philippus dashing over, having heard the commotion.

"My Queen, what's wrong?" Artemis asked, her voice filled with terror usually not found in her.

"It's Diana!" Hippolyta replied between deep breaths. "Just now, I felt as though she was calling out for aid, and then was just as suddenly silenced! I fear she may have lost consciousness, or worse!"

Artemis paled, Hippolyta giving her head a quick shake. "Artemis, Philippus! You have to leave, now! Find my daughter and bring her home!"

"How will we even know where to find her?" Philippus inquired. "She could be anywhere in Man's World."

"The call I heard was a telepathic one, sent out through her tiara," Hippolyta explained, removing her own tiara. "It was probably meant for the invisible jet. If you take my tiara, you should be able to find it, and hopefully her with it."

Artemis bowed, taking the tiara. "As you command, my Queen. Come, Philippus, we don't have a moment to waste!"

With that, the two greatest of Hippolyta's warriors, aside from herself and Diana, dashed for the stables near the beaches of Themyscira. With any luck, there would be a pegasus or two there, with which they could make the best speed to find the Princess. Hippolyta, however, could only sit back and do nothing, as the Amazons needed her where she was, a decision she knew Diana would want her to make. But doing so, knowing her daughter was hurt or worse, was one of the hardest things to do.

* * *

_The River Styx_

Hades' eyes narrowed as he watched the two souls making their way down the River Styx. Sure enough, it was none other than Adolf Hitler and Josef Mengele. Mengele looked angry, betrayed, and not desiring to be where he was. However, much to Hades' surprise, Hitler's eyes told a very different story: He appeared glad to be where he was. He seemed relieved that, whatever had transpired above ground, it was over now. As he moved past, Adolf stopped for a moment, looking to Hades.

"...His name is Black Hand," Adolf muttered. "He is the one raising the dead as zombies. He used us, and a man named Captain Nazi, to do his work for him and get him in a position where he could carry out all of this."

Hades nodded, scowling. "Black Hand...Yes, I know of him, and how he received such abilities. But why tell me of this? Do you believe it will lessen your sentence here?"

Hitler shook his head. "I'm tired, Hades. I'm tired of playing their game of good versus evil. I've been caught up in it for a century, beyond my mortal years into my afterlife, as what the people of today call an evil dictator, and as a zombie, a cruel perversion of life. Still..."

Hades gave Adolf an inquiring glance, to which he continued. "...She was willing to save me, after everything I did, and all that I might continue to do. I owe enough that she be given a chance to save the world, if she still believes she can."

"Knowing her, she does," the Lord of the Dead replied, to which Hitler continued on his way down the River Styx.

"I won't make excuses for my life," Adolf said as he marched onward, back to Tartarus. "I would have made the same decisions over again if given the chance. Now, let me fade from the world of the living, never to return. Let humanity either evolve as they wish, or fall where they may. It is of no consequence to me anymore."

Hades frowned as Adolf eventually passed out of sight. As he suspected, there were no further souls to follow the two Nazis, and he was certain that still more would leave with the scores that were taken earlier. Yet, the Lord of the Dead could take solace in one thing: That there was one soul that would not be leaving. After all, for all the power that he knew Black Hand had, that he was now abusing, he knew that a soul could never return to the world of the living if they had no desire left in their heart to do so.

"Rest in peace, Adolf Hitler," Hades muttered, trudging along to his own personal quarters to ponder his next move.

* * *

_?_

A young redhead in a pair of blue jean shorts and a black jacket over a fishnet top looked to the skies as she sat in the open field. She felt the wind brush past and the grass and flowers around her pelt her legs gently. She petted her companion and guardian, a German Shepherd, who nuzzled her lovingly as she watched the clouds pass overhead, her eyes, one silver-flecked blue and one green, shimmering at the sight.

Noticing a rather large black cloud appear out of nowhere among the formations overhead, the girl sighed. "I guess one wasn't enough. Even though she was the first to understand perfectly, she needs further encouragement. I need to make contact again."

The redhead closed her eyes, focusing her mind to find Princess Diana of Themyscira's mind. However, just as she made contact, a loud blast of voltage, followed by a yelp caused her eyes to snap back open. To her side, her companion had been knocked out, a small crackle of electricity coming off his temples.

"Barnabas!" the girl cried, just as she felt a hand grab her by the throat and pick her up off the ground. Her attacker was a purple-haired sorceress, wearing green and gold robes. Her eyes crackled with wicked, violet energy as she stared into the girl's eyes. She smirked evilly as the girl trembled in fear.

"You are the one who is sending out visions to Princess Diana's mind, correct?" the sorceress asked, the girl's eyes widening in surprise. "I've been keeping close tabs on Hippolyta's darling daughter, so I know someone made contact with her mind, and following the mystical trail of breadcrumbs...well, here I am. And unless the dog is the one responsible..."

"Wh-What do you want?" the girl asked, to which the sorceress merely stroked her cheek with her other hand.

"Why, simply to make use of this wonderful gift," the sorceress replied, ending her gentle stroking by grabbing hold of the side of the girl's head hard. "Let's see if dear Diana knows what nightmares are made out of!"

The girl could say nothing as the sorceress forcibly reconnected her mind to Diana's, laughing evilly as she did so. The girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she felt like she could pass out at any minute if someone didn't do something. But then, knowing this woman's cruel intent, Diana was in store for something far, FAR worse than that...

* * *

_____****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ Okay, so once again, if you are familiar with certain characters from the DC Universe, you probably know who these two are at the end. Specifically, if you've read Wonder Woman and Sandman, you know these two.

As for Hitler, this is basically his exit from the story, minus a cameo or two and references to his presence thus far. He's been taken to the point where he no longer desires power, and wants to just lay his head down to rest for the rest of eternity, but not without giving Wonder Woman a chance in return for trying to save him. This still doesn't redeem him, mind you, as that was not my intent. My intent was to show him as a human being...which is odd, since he was a zombie for most of it, but you get what I mean. lol All too easily, we tend to label men like Hitler not as men but as monsters. And I get it, it makes it easier, and it is scary to think that we have the capacity for such evil. Honestly, though, I think we do ourselves a disservice by doing so. You think those who neglect the past are doomed to repeat it? How bad do you think the people who outright deny the truth of the past have it? Only by learning from such horrible acts can we hope to never repeat them.

Lastly, regarding why Black Hand can never raise Hitler again, I kinda got the idea for that from Blackest Night, where Hal Jordan says that all those that were resurrected were those that genuinely had the will and desire to come back. I rather like that idea, so I thought I'd run with it.

Anyway, check in next time as Diana...well, let's just say that I'm about to earn that M rating. lol Ja né!


	8. Chapter 8

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

Diana stared straight up at the ceiling of her bedroom, laying in her bed under her sheet. Even though her muscles ached, her bones felt worn out, her head was a bit heavier than usual, and her tiara and bracers would no doubt need a polishing later, it felt good to be home. She was home again after another glorious adventure, this time having stopped the masses of the undead before they could even properly rise up, and pulling the plug on a plan to bring about the Fourth Reich. Still, with all that completed, she knew there was still work to be done. There could be no rest for Wonder Woman when duties were afoot, regardless of how big or small they were.

Getting up, she slid her silk nighties off, walking to her closet. Opening it up, she took out her Wonder Woman costume, gearing up. With all of her costume set onto her, she finished by putting her hair into a ponytail. She then walked to her mirror, looking herself over. Though she tended not to think too much of it, she was incredibly beautiful, and most definitely endowed by the Gods in more ways than one, a thought that occurred to her as she turned herself slightly, admiring the view of her own backside. Giggling to herself and shaking such odd thoughts away, she walked to the door leading out of her bedroom. She then took a deep breath, knowing what lay ahead for her and how long a night this could prove to be, and opened it, stepping out into the lively night club.

Looking around, Diana smiled as everyone she knew was there. Paul was working the bar and chatting up some of the women that came in. Hades was in the corner, sulking in the shadows and not wanting to get close to the livelier folks. Clark Kent and Lois Lane were interviewing Bruce Wayne, in his Batman costume with his cowl hung back, with blonde twin supermodels in bikinis on each arm, talking about how he'd saved the world from The Joker, who had hijacked the moon. Supergirl and Artemis were in the middle of a very close match of arm wrestling, Philippus cheering Artemis on while Alexa cheered on Supergirl. Lex Luthor was under the stairs leading to the loft with Circe, making out like no one was around to watch, almost as if they were ready to start making babies at any moment. Even her mother was there, and of all places, she was on the dance floor, showing those young women of Man's World that she could bust a move with the best of them.

But beyond all of them, sitting at a table, was Steve Trevor, wearing his uniform. He smirked as Diana came close, pushing out the chair opposite of him with his foot. She grinned, taking her seat. He'd already gotten them drinks. Of course, they were shot glasses of tequila, a rather large bottle of the substance sitting in a bucket of ice. Diana stifled a chortle as the Air Force pilot's plan was clear to her: Steve was trying to get her drunk, AGAIN. Well, if that's how he wanted to play, she could take time out of her day to humiliate him at a drinking contest.

Within minutes, the two were laughing, fully engulfed in their conversation of days gone by and of their friends being silly throughout the club. Steve's words were getting slurred, and Diana's vision was becoming somewhat blurry. She was sure it was the tequila, but that didn't make any sense. She'd only had a couple of glasses, unless Steve had switched the tequila with something more potent. But if that was the case, it should be affecting him FAR worse if it was doing this to her.

Excusing herself, Diana headed to the ladies' washroom, bumping past Grundy and Bizarro along the way as they were doing, of all things, the Thriller. However, just before she arrived at the wash-room, she was met with five individuals, all teens in costumes. One was a boy with short dark hair wearing a red and green costume with black gloves, a yellow belt, black boots, a black and yellow cape, a black domino mask, and a yellow R on his chest. One was a girl with long blonde hair wearing a red and yellow costume with red and gold gloves and boots, a yellow visor, and golden lightning bolt earrings. One was a boy wearing a purple and green bandanna over his head and eyes, and a matching purple and green costume covering the rest of his body. One was a girl with short dark hair and wearing what could best be described as a black Supergirl costume, complete with black gloves and boots, the red and yellow El family crest, and a blue cape. The last was an African-American boy with a blonde buzz-cut and wearing red and blue Atlantean armour, very much like Aquaman's orange and green armour, right down to the golden A buckle on his black belt.

Diana stood there, puzzled by all of them, wanting to ask who they were. Before she could, though, the boy with an R on his chest mouthed something, the second word looking like 'Titans', before they all walked past her. Watching them for a moment, baffled, Wonder Woman gave her head a shake, heading into the washroom. Inside was a young woman with red hair and glasses in a wheelchair, washing her hands of some sort of green, almost blood-like fluid. Once she was done, she wheeled herself out, but not before locking eyes with Diana, almost as if she were trying to tell her something but couldn't.

Wonder Woman was confused, standing alone in the washroom. She looked to the mirror, observing herself, eventually deciding to let her long dark locks free of her ponytail. Suddenly, the door to the washroom closed, and in the mirror's reflection, Diana watched as Steve entered, smiling at her drunkenly. She decided to have fun with him, pretending he wasn't there as she ran her fingers through her hair, adjusted her breastplate, straightened her tiara, and so on.

After a little of this, Steve could take no more, placing a hand on Diana's hip. Wonder Woman smirked almost predatorily at the Air Force pilot in the reflection, spinning around to grab him and lock lips with him. She moaned as she felt his fingers in her hair, stroking through it gently, her long purple locks flowing all around them. They eventually parted lips just long enough for Diana to breath, but Steve wouldn't rest, turning his attention to her neck. Diana giggled at his love bites, wrapping her legs around Steve's waist, as if daring him to go further, but soon hollered in pain as his teeth pierced her skin. Looking down at him, Steve's skin was decayed, his eyes bloodshot, and he was feasting hungrily on her blood.

Eyes wide with terror, Wonder Woman tried to swing Steve off of her with little success, eventually falling back into the wall. Crying out in pain as the back of her skull collided with the wall, she looked ahead at her reflection. To her relief and utter confusion, Steve was gone, her neck was fine, and her hair was brunette and in a ponytail again. She sighed hard, burying her face in her hands for a moment before she felt something akin to a firecracker going off in the back of her mind.

_...Wait, 'again'?_ Diana thought, only now registering that her hair had been purple a moment ago. _Something's wrong here._

Before she could question this further, Diana noticed a slight gleam of light shimmer across the mirror. Looking closer at it, her reflection suddenly stuck up her middle finger at her, the mirror shattering into pieces that flew all around, threatening to cut Diana. She was barely able to protect herself with her bracers, the glass breaking into tiny pieces before reforming in front of her as a glass version of herself. The Amazon Princess wasn't sure what to make of this, but didn't have time to ponder it before the figure reformed into a teenage girl, wearing a jacket and shorts, holding her hand out and trying to say something, before shattering apart again and reforming into the mirror.

Unsure of what else to do, Wonder Woman quickly left the washroom, exiting back out into the restaurant, and headed back to her table. However, when she got there, Steve was gone, and it was instead occupied by Lois Lane in the Superman costume and Clark Kent wearing only a pair of red underwear, all the while Bruce Wayne stood in a tuxedo taking their orders. Utterly confused by this, Diana walked out of the restaurant, stepping out into the cold winter streets of Gotham City. Trudging through the light snow, she found herself bumping into Hades by accident, who was holding Adolf Hitler and Josef Mengele on a pair of spiked leashes. Standing for a moment, staring at such a bizarre sight, Diana nearly flew straight into the air in surprise from the sound of the horn blasting behind her, a bus parked there with its doors open for her. The driver, a young African-American man with steel components all over his body and a red lens over one eye, frowned at her impatiently.

Slightly embarrassed, Diana climbed on, taking a seat in the back next to a green humanoid alien with red eyes, almost like something from a cheap production shown on the SyFy Channel. Sitting behind them were a red-haired man in a blue and black suit and an African-American man in a green and black suit. As the bus started moving again, the Amazon Princess shivered hard from the cold air drifting through an open window, covering herself with her arms. Gotham City was cold enough in the winter, but considering she was naked, save for her tiara, her bracers, and the Lasso of Truth wrapped around her waist, it was completely unbearable...at which point, another thought hit Diana.

_Wait, why in Hera's name am I naked?_ she pondered, looking at the passengers. _And why does no one seem to care? People in Man's World are usually a bit more-_

Wonder Woman's thought process was interrupted as the bus came to an abrupt stop. Looking ahead, she saw why: A massive worm made out of rotting flesh that had been sewn together was taking a bite out of the front of the bus, taking the driver with it. Standing up out of her seat, she rushed toward the front, reaching to her hip and pulling the Batclaw from her utility belt, latching onto a bar over some of the passengers and launching herself upward before drop-kicking the beast off the front of the bus and across the road. She landed in the street, flooded with water, as spotlights beamed onto her, shimmering off her blue and red kevlar suit with a golden W on her chest, shaped similarly to the El family crest. She wore white gloves and boots, golden bracers and shin-guards over each. A golden belt wrapped itself around her waist. Hung from her neck was a long cape resembling the Flag of the United States. A blue and gold cowl adorned her head and face, a red star just above and between her eyes.

The undead worm roared at Diana, zombie body parts falling out of its gaping mouth between its razor-sharp, blood coated teeth. Leaping up, Wonder Woman pulled a Bat-shaped sword hilt from her belt, igniting a Kryptonite laser blade. With a battle cry, she proceeded to slash straight through the worm's head with a vertical cut, then dashed forward, carving the beast into multiple pieces with the sword before coming to a stop behind its burnt and cut-apart corpse. She grinned, glancing behind her at how easy it was.

Just as she felt like celebrating, though, Wonder Woman nearly fell over from the massive earthquake that suddenly struck Gotham City. Buildings crumbled into ruin, flames erupted from cracks in the streets, the sky turned red in the illumination of fire, and citizens ran about wildly, their bodies set ablaze. Diana could only stare at the horror of it all, a woman running up to her, pleading for help, her skin melting off before the Amazon's eyes. The bare skeleton then spun around, kicking her in the chest and sending her sailing into a telephone pole, knocking her sword away. As she collapsed, Diana soon found herself besieged by a pack of a half-dozen zombie dogs, biting and clawing at her suit. Having only her bare fists to defend herself with, she summoned all her strength to grab each of the six canine zombies by their jaws and tear them in half one at a time, all the while screaming in terror as blood spattered over her.

With all of the dogs dead, Diana fell against the pole, exhausted, covered in blood, and her costume torn completely to shreds, revealing her standard Wonder Woman costume underneath. She looked around at her surroundings. A zombie Lois Lane was feasting on the corpse of Superman. Batman had picked up a pair of handguns and started shooting anything that came near him, but was soon killed when a zombie Joker dashed toward him, taking several bullets before leaping up and snapping the Dark Knight's neck and then falling to the ground dead atop his nemesis. Bizarro was breathing flames on the zombies, trying to burn them to cinders, only to be brought down by another worm. Supergirl was frying anything that walked, but was soon brought down to the ground by Grundy, then hauled into a fire pit by a horde of zombies. And more and more civilians were falling to the flames and the undead horrors walking the ravaged streets of Gotham.

Hoisting herself up, Diana looked ahead at the new terror approaching: The Amazons, all undead, all armed, and backed by several worms. She wanted to cry at what she knew was to come: Either she would die at the hands of her sisters, thus ending all hope for Man's World, or she would have to slay every last one of them, thus leaving the blood of her sisters on her hands. But then, she already knew the choice to make, as any one of her sisters would do the same in her place.

With a feral cry, Wonder Woman leaped up and crashed through a pack of zombie Amazons, grabbing a sword and shield. She then proceeded to hack and cleave every last one of her sisters that came anywhere near her. Mala, Alexa, Daphne, Euboea. Diana cringed as one by one, the undead bodies of the women she'd known since the day she was born fell to her sword, their blood staining the pavement and her already bloodstained costume. She cried out in pain as Philippus stuck her in the leg with a spear, but she grabbed hold of her and flung her hard into a worm, sending both tumbling into a fire pit. Artemis ran up and stabbed her in the shoulder with a dagger, Wonder Woman hauling the spear from her leg and running Artemis through with it before hurling her away. Her mother then leaped onto her back, biting into her neck, causing her to double over and let several more on her, all biting and clawing at her.

Diana screamed in pain, rage, and sorrow, knowing this was her end and not caring. After all, far worse was lost, or in danger of being lost. She removed her bracers as her undead sisters continued to ravage her, then threw her arms and legs out, sending them all sailing off of her into the air. She then grabbed a pair of swords, slicing through every last Amazon that fell back down to her, finishing with her mother. Panting hard, Wonder Woman looked down at the decapitated head of her mother, who stared back at her. Tears streamed down the face of Diana, the last Amazon, before she screamed out once again, launching up into the air in spite of the fatigue and blood loss. Looking around, she saw the gigantic crater filled with lava where Arkham Asylum once stood. She saw the flaming wreckage of Wayne Manor, smoke rising up from it and blocking out the moon. She saw the destroyed ruins of the Gotham City Police Headquarters, the Bat-signal smashed apart and covered in blood. There was no mistaking it: Gotham had fallen.

Before she could mourn the loss of the entire city, Diana soon was greeted by a new terror: A massive dragon's head emerging from the lava pit that once was Arkham Asylum. It roared out as the flames around the city burned even brighter. It then turned to face Wonder Woman, who could only look on in terror at the sight of the beast, the blood-loss and fatigue making it hard just to stay in the air. Its head lurched forward on a long, thick neck, jaws wide and filled with lava and corpses. Wonder Woman screamed one last time as she prepared her swords, hoping to at least take this creature down with her as the dragon's mouth opened wide enough to swallow her in one chomp.

"DIANA!"

As the dragon bit down on her, Diana immediately found herself in a completely different place: An open field under a blue sky. White clouds passed overhead, and a gentle breeze blew along her skin. There was no city, no fire, no zombies, no monsters of any kind. Her wounds were gone, and she was left in an all white, silver, and gold version of her Wonder Woman costume, her hair flowing freely without a ponytail.

"...Okay, now it's official," Diana said aloud, finally being able to speak again. "I am most certainly having a very strange, random, and inappropriately erotic dream."

"No, you're having a nightmare."

Diana spun around, finding herself face to face with an all-too-familiar purple-headed sorceress in green and gold clothes, snarling evilly at her. "And so help me, it's only going to get worse from here!"

* * *

_____****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ Okay, before ANYBODY calls me out on some of the things Wonder Woman does in her dream sequence, answer one question: Have you ever had a dream where you did things that you wouldn't normally do? Well, that's kind of the point here. She would never blatantly make out with Steve Trevor in the bathroom, it's all meant to make her realise what's going on isn't reality. As for the bus thing...Yeah, okay, getting indulgent there, I admit it. Still, to be fair, I think a lot of people have had THAT dream before, where they're catching the bus naked. I know I have, REPEATEDLY. lol

Also, Wonder Woman - Trinity Form. DeviantArt, there's your ammunition for tonight. XD God, I wish I had PayPal and could pay some of the people on dA to make stuff. They really do deserve to be paid for some of the awesome artwork they make. Like, the REALLY good ones.

The reason why there's no dialogue until the very end is, again, falling back on the nature of dreams. Think about it: When someone says something to you in a dream, you're not REALLY talking to someone, your subconsciousness is tricking you into thinking you hear a sound that isn't there. It isn't until the end that dialogue occurs because Diana isn't really talking to anyone until then. Granted, she's still dreaming, but she's interacting with people that are connected to her mind, so while they aren't physically there, they are real.

Real quick thing I'd like to note, the Teen Titans were (in order of description): Robin (Dick Grayson), Jesse Quick (Jesse Chambers), Bunker (Miguel Barragan), Supergirl (Mia Kent), and Aqualad (Jackson Hyde). Now, will those be the Titans in Infinite DC? Good question...next!

Finally, if it feels like I was having trouble deciding if this dream sequence should be scary, funny, or over-indulgent, well...yer right, I did have a little trouble there. I'm sorry if it comes off as a clusterfuck as a result, but hopefully it's not too hard to get through.

Anyway, check in next time as Wonder Woman finally learns the identity of the person who gave her the visions, and we begin to make our way into the climax of the story. Ja né!


	9. Chapter 9

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

Diana shouldn't have been surprised. Well, at least that's what she told herself, that she shouldn't have been surprised that her recent dream, which most people would suggest was the result of too much alcohol and/or drugs, was actually caused by the purple-haired sorceress standing before her. After all, who else would go to such lengths, using such powerful magic, to do something so incredibly, blatantly petty?

"Circe," Wonder Woman muttered.

"How sweet, you remember me," Circe declared. "I'm touched."

"Well, you never completely forget the crazy ones," Diana remarked. "What do you want, Circe?"

"The usual, Diana," the sorceress answered. "To hurt you, humiliate you, leave you broken and crying and begging for your dear mother. And I have to admit, this particular method has been a lot of fun. Beats the Hades out of turning people into pigs. I should do this more often."

"Still trying to get revenge on Mother through me, huh?" Wonder Woman asked. "And what kind of magic spell did you use to get into my subconsciousness?"

Circe grinned. "Oh, that was quite impossible, even for my power. However, I found someone else who was already in direct contact with your mind."

Seeing Circle smirk at something behind her, the Amazon Princess turned around. There, hanging by her wrists shackled to magical chains floating in the air, was a redhead resembling the girl made of glass that she'd seen in her dream. There was a circle of violet electricity running across her forehead, stretched from one of her temples to the other, as she looked to be unconscious. Hanging next to her by all for of its paws was a German Shepherd, also unconscious.

"Who is she?" Diana demanded. "And what have you done to her?"

"Her name, or at least the one she answers to now, is Delirium," Circe explained. "And I'm merely tapping into her ability to connect with your mind and send you images and messages, so I can have a little fun with your subconsciousness."

Wonder Woman's eyes widened. "She's the one that sent me the visions of the-"

Suddenly remembering what she was supposed to be doing, Diana spun around to face Circe again. "Circe, we don't have time for this! A zombie apocalypse is due to hit in about twelve days!"

Circe just smirked, looking over her nails. "I'm aware of that, Princess. And I'm supposed to care so much...because why?"

"Because those zombies care little for whom they consume," Wonder Woman replied. "No matter how many they have to go through, it'll eventually come down to you and them. Even you, with all your power, cannot stand against the numbers that are gathering."

"Oh please, Diana," Circe scoffed. "I can travel to other magical planes of existence. I can just relocate to one a bit less zombie-infested."

Diana growled. She knew she was getting nowhere fast with Circe, but that in her current state, there was nothing she could do to force the to sorceress release her. She had to convince her to let her go. But how could she possibly convince Circe of all people to let her save humanity? As she said before, why would she care? However, remembering those words, an idea popped into Wonder Woman's head.

"Say you do travel to a different plane to save yourself," Wonder Woman said. "What then? Who will you troll for your own amusement? Face it, you enjoy having humanity around, if for no other reason but to make yourself feel more powerful. And you've always sought to get at Mother through me. How will you do that when you've left us to be consumed by the undead so you can hide away in another realm for all eternity?"

Circe opened her mouth to retort, but immediately found herself with nothing to say. No witty comeback, no complicated plan to turn this to her favour, nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. She gritted her teeth, clenching her fists, trying to come up with something to say to make Diana wrong. And ultimately, there was nothing. Once again, Wonder Woman had beaten her, but this time through the simple means of proving that what Circe planned to do was going to take away everything she enjoyed most about the world: She could use it and its people for her amusement, something that she couldn't get out of other planes of existence or other inhabited worlds. After all, humans were far easier and more fun to play with. But most important of all, it was the only world that had Diana and Hippolyta.

"Grrr, you little brat!" Circe cursed, throwing out a hand and making the chains on Delirium and her dog vanish. "Fine, you win! I'll release these two from their captivity, but I warn you right now, pray we don't meet again soon! Because the next time we meet, I won't be in a very diplomatic mood!"

With that, Circe vanished in a puff of smoke. Wonder Woman rolled her eyes, watching as her costume returned to normal. Strangely, the scene around her was beginning to change. The grass was no longer grass, but a green-tinted ocean with multi-coloured fish swimming in it, yet Diana was still able to walk upon its surface. She then turned to face the sorceress' two former captives. Both were on their feet, the dog nuzzling the girl's leg. Delirium, however, was looking away, seemingly ashamed. Diana couldn't help but notice that she smelled of wine gone sour mixed with fresh leather, with just a hint of sweat. Her hair was also changing, gaining blonde streaks and being tied into pigtails. Her clothes were now a blue and white Japanese high school uniform.

"Are you alright?" Diana asked, walking over.

Delirium nodded, still not looking the Amazon in the eye. "We're okay...Sorry. I didn't mean to get you into trouble. Kinda stupid on my part, considering."

"This place, is it part of my dream too?" Wonder Woman asked, Delirium shaking her head.

"It's where I live," Delirium answered. "It's just appearing IN your dream. It shifts a lot, so you might wanna be ready for that."

Diana snapped her fingers as realization hit her. "...You're Maniae, aren't you?"

Delirium nodded, finally letting her eyes, one silver-flecked blue and one green, meet the Amazon's. "I've had a bunch of different names over the past few millennia or so. Let's just say, even as the youngest of my kind, I still look pretty damn good for my age."

"You sent me the visions," Wonder Woman stated. "You warned me about the apocalypse."

"Gotta say, you're the first person to plainly understand my messages," Delirium replied, suddenly standing behind Diana, now wearing a swimsuit-styled facsimile of the Wonder Woman costume, her hair jet black and flowing freely. "Even your mom didn't get it. I wonder if it's Athena's wisdom helping with that, or if there's just something special about you specifically?"

"My mother?" the Amazon Princess asked as she turned around, the scenery changing to that of a starry night over a frozen lake. "You sent her the visions too?"

"Yeah, she's got the other Amazons preparing for battle if it turns out you get in over your head," Delirium explained, "but it's not enough. You got a small taste of what Black Hand can do, but now the gloves...Or, just the one glove I guess, is off. Even if your super friends helped out, they couldn't stop the apocalypse, if it comes. Nope, the only way to stop it is to take down Black Hand BEFORE the apocalypse happens."

"I hope you aren't insinuating I kill him," Wonder Woman exclaimed. "While I may be more understanding of the necessity for it than others in my field, I still would just as soon avoid it if at all possible."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that with Black Hand," Delirium replied, appearing behind Diana again, this time in a biker's outfit with a red Mohawk.

"Is it possible to NOT do that?" Diana asked.

Delirium sweat-dropped. "Sorry, my bad. Spirit of Insanity and all that jazz. Even I don't know what I'll be from one minute to the next. Sometimes I'm a biker chick..."

Diana backed off, startled as Delirium appeared upside down in front of her face, wearing clown make-up. "Sometimes I'm a goofy clown, here to make you smile!"

The Amazon Princess blinked as the area changed into a hotel suite, finding Delirium now in her arms, appearing a few years older, her red hair much longer, and wearing a long black dress that accented her curves in all the right ways. "And sometimes, I'm JUST the kind of girl you want to bring with you to a place like this."

Wonder Woman's jaw hung open for what felt like an eternity before giving her head a hard shake. "ANYWAY, getting back to the zombie apocalypse?"

Delirium pouted, pulling away before returning to the form of a 14 year old and reverting to the jacket, fishnet top, and shorts she was wearing previously. "Whatever you say, Miss Killjoy. Thing is, Black Hand isn't exactly 100% living and breathing."

"What does THAT mean?" Diana asked, the scenery returning to the open field under a light blue sky. "Is he a zombie?"

"Not exactly," the Spirit of Insanity answered. "He still exists in the realm of the living, but he's being granted power by a being that channels the very essence of death. That arm he keeps exposed? Not actually his. It belonged to a zombie."

"Why is he doing this?" Wonder Woman wondered aloud.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know what makes that sicko do what he does," Delirium responded. "Suffice to say, he's got a thing for the dead, and he'll cover the whole world in it if you don't stop him."

Diana nodded, but there was still something eating away at her. "I have to know something, Delirium: Why me? Why send the message to me?"

"To tell the truth, I used to send messages to a member of the Justice Society," Delirium explained. "The Sandman. But, y'know, he had to hang it up after a while, so I had to make contact with someone else, and...Well, you just seemed like the one best suited for this. You have the strength and skill to beat him. You have the connections and resources to track him down. But the most important reason of all is that you love the whole freaking world, for all of its good, bad, and downright fugly. You'd die before you let Black Hand have his way."

"Then I have to know when his attack is going to occur," Wonder Woman declared. "The actual date."

"First Saturday of autumn, so the 23rd," Delirium answered.

"So I still have two weeks to stop him from unleashing his undead army," Diana noted. "Good. Plenty of time."

Delirium fidgeted nervously, seeming to shrink a little as a rain-cloud appeared over her. "Eheh, umm...About that? You've actually been asleep a little bit longer than you think. Circe was torturing you with nightmares for a while. It took me a long time to finally reach you."

Diana's eyes widened, the realization of what Delirium was trying to tell her sinking in. "How long?"

Delirium didn't answer. Instead, she held up a hand in front of Diana's face and snapped her fingers while exclaiming "I'm sorry!"

* * *

Diana jolted into a sitting up position, sweating hard. Looking around, she immediately recognized her surroundings: Her old bedroom in Themyscira. Watching from the door were Artemis and Philippus, who immediately ran in to check on Diana with looks of concern and relief on their faces.

"Princess Diana!" Artemis exclaimed. "You're awake!"

"How long was I sleeping?" Diana demanded, her eyes wide and somewhat erratic looking. "Where's my iPhone?"

Philippus reached into the drawers next to the bed, retrieving Diana's iPhone for her. Looking at the calender, the Amazon Princess' skin paled drastically, and she felt as though she was going to be sick. It was 4:21 AM, and the date was Wednesday, September 20th. That meant it was a meagre three days until Black Hand began his attack on the entire world.

Three days until Armageddon began.

* * *

_____****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ And as The Joker once said in the Justice League animated series, "This is where we change all the rules". As you can see, the climax of the story is rapidly approaching, with the zombie apocalypse now set to hit in three days. Long story short, this is why I gave up trying to write this for NaNoWriMo, as I was creeping up on the climax far too quickly, and was basically pulling filler outta my ass. XD

For those disappointed that this chapter did not have any action...well, that's mainly because every chapter before this was one smackdown after another. It was getting insanely repetitive. Besides, I like the idea of Wonder Woman beating Circe with her mind instead of in a fight, and figured that, given the circumstances, it was the best way she could get the upper hand over the sorceress. After all, Circe was transmitting her appearance into Diana's dreams, so it's not like Wonder Woman could pummel her even if she wanted.

As for Delirium, I may have had her channel Q from Star Trek/Discord from Friendship Is Magic (let's face it, they're pretty much the same character) a little bit. It just made sense to me, and it's the kind of interpretation I can work with the best, since I watch a lot of both shows. Also, yes, the Wonder Woman costume she wore is the standard costume from the comics. Just thought it'd be a funny little touch. And before anyone asks about the hotel scene, it's always been hinted at in the comics that the Amazons were all at least bi-curious, so don't anybody gimme any lip about Diana being slightly attracted to that.

Speaking of which, I should make something clear about Wonder Woman in my fics: I'm not actively considering pairing her up with ANYBODY at this point. I'm not saying I'm decided on keeping her single forever, but I haven't really thought about pairing her up with someone either. Aside from Steve Trevor, who I'm pretty much committed to keeping with Etta Candy, the only time I've ever seen Diana hooked up with someone that it worked well was Batman in the DCAU, and that's only because the writers knew well-enough to keep the relationship interesting while also letting both do their own things and not have their point on the show to be the other's boyfriend or girlfriend. Y'know, unlike in the Justice League comics these days, where her role on the team has pretty much been degraded to just being Superman's girlfriend.

Anyway, rant over, come back next time to see the Amazons get in on some of the fun, learn a bit more about Black Hand's deal in this story, and possibly even see a familiar face or two show up to lend a hand. Ja né!


	10. Chapter 10

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 20th, 7:07 AM, EST_  
_Themyscira_

Diana sat at a round table set up in the throne room, looking to her fellow Amazons. It had taken a little while to get everyone up, but she decided this was FAR too important to leave some people out on. Some were looking slightly dis-shelved, having been sleeping or otherwise, but nonetheless sat attentively as Diana, her mother, and Philippus and Artemis sat at the round table. Likewise, Steve Trevor and President Amanda Waller were sitting in via conference call using a computer Steve had left the Amazons in case of emergency.

"So, we've got three days to avert the zombie apocalypse," President Waller said with a sigh. "You know, if I hadn't run Project Cadmus for as long as I did, that would sound VERY insane to me."

"Would someone please remind me why I ever allowed Circe to live?" Hippolyta asked. "Because honest to Zeus, when she pulls stunts like she did now, I tend to forget."

"Circe may have cost me some time, but I'm not out of it yet," Wonder Woman noted. "We're fortunate you sent Artemis and Philippus to retrieve me. We still have time to stop Black Hand. All we need to do is find him before his army is ready for their attack and slay him."

"I thought you didn't kill your enemies anymore, Princess," Artemis pointed out.

"I don't kill mortal humans, no," Diana replied. "I WILL, however, gladly slay monsters, demons, and the undead, and Delirium made it clear that Black Hand is a hybrid of the living and the dead now. As far as I'm concerned, he's made himself VERY killable."

"Sounds like a pretty blatant loophole, but hell if I'm gonna call foul on this one," Steve remarked.

"And we're sure we can trust this Delirium individual?" the President inquired.

"Delirium can be a bit...odd, but she does legitimately wish to help," Wonder Woman answered. "In the meantime, has there been any word from Superman?"

"No word," Steve sighed. "We're on our own for this one."

"The Amazons do not require Superman to help us fight our battles," Philippus exclaimed. "We will find Black Hand and eliminate him and his army."

"Speaking of which, I dug up some info on our darkly cloaked friend," Trevor said. "Took some work, since it details events before the Superhero Registration Act was dropped, and that info got put under lock and key."

"What have you got for us, Colonel?" President Waller asked.

"Well, his real name is William Hand, and as you may have guessed, this guy's a sick bastard," Steve explained. "His folks ran both a coroner's office and a funeral home, which led to him growing up to have a deep fascination with death and the dead. Some of his therapists suggested he may have even been engaged in necrophilic activities."

Some of the Amazons looked ill at this, but Steve went on. "Apparently, he ran into a fellow from WAY out of town. He was a necromancer that believed William was tied to some kinda black energy. He was gonna kill him and take the energy for himself, but he was intercepted by a former Air Force pilot turned superhero named Hal Jordan."

"The Green Lantern," Waller noted. "Continue."

"Apparently, after this event, William Hand basically went off the radar for a couple of years," Steve said. "But here's where it gets weird: He wasn't seen again until about four and a half years ago, following a murder scene at his folks' house. His parents, and both his brothers, all dead. But what was weird is that they recorded a blood sample belonging to William as well, except the sample was SO large, there was no way he could've lived following it. But there was no sign of him. After that, got even weirder. A few months later, his father's casket was broken into, his right arm was surgically removed, and the rest of his body was supposedly left badly mangled and hardly recognizable."

Artemis leaned back in her seat. "So this man kills his family, commits suicide, is raised as something akin to a zombie, then he steals his father's arm, which is likely the one he replaced his own with. And I'm going to assume this is all for whatever dark force that supposedly is the manifestation of death that he's working for?"

"Now that's the part I'm having trouble finding info on," Steve replied. "Meaning there's a player in all of this we know zip about."

"Then our first priority for now is finding Black Hand," Amanda Waller said. "We have to figure out a way to track him to-"

Before the president could finish, a chime started to play on the computer, signalling that someone was trying to join the conference call. Diana looked to the computer, her eyes widening at the name appearing: AlexaThemyscira3309. She quickly allowed the caller through, and sure enough, Alexa appeared on the screen, the halls of the underworld shown behind her.

"Alexa!" Diana cried happily.

"Sister?" Artemis exclaimed. "How?"

"Called in some favours with some inmates, got together some materials that washed down here," Alexa answered. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to get a working computer built in the underworld. Of course, the hard part is getting reception-"

"While I find all of this fascinating, and it's of course great to see you again, we're in the middle of something, Alexa," Artemis cut in. "Preparing to stop the imminent zombie apocalypse?"

"Which is actually why I called, sister," Alexa replied. "Adolf told Hades about Black Hand, and there are things that you need to know about him and the being he's working for."

"All ears," Diana said.

"Black Hand is getting power from a being called Nekron," Alexa explained. "When the universe was first created, he was born from the nothingness that existed before it. Much in the same way as the undead are a perversion of the order of life, he believes that life is a perversion of the natural state of the universe: Darkness, nothingness, and death."

"Wonderful," Waller muttered. "How do we kill him?"

"You can't," Alexa responded, "because he doesn't even exist in the realm of the living. He lives in a place known as the Dead Zone, a realm adjoining the underworld that even Hades can't enter. Likewise, Nekron can't physically leave unless there's a strong enough presence of the dead on Earth. He's only able to cause harm through his servants."

"Black Hand," Wonder Woman stated. "So, we defeat him, and Nekron has no one to act through."

Diana looked to the others, her gaze meeting Philippus, who appeared deep in thought. "...Something the matter?"

"I was just thinking," Philippus replied. "Black Hand knows you're out there and that you're planning to stop him. He also has to be aware that you have an army of Amazons to bring with you to his doorstep once you find it. I find it difficult to believe that, with all of this time he's had to plan this out, that he would simply wait for us to come to him, thus risking an engagement he could possibly lose, BADLY."

"Or he could just skip all of that and come looking for us!" a blonde Amazon shouted, looking through the Silver Mirror.

At this, all of the Amazons looked out to the mirror hanging behind Hippolyta's throne. Sure enough, far off in the ocean, approaching the island, were three massive abominations made from whales, only possessing far larger flippers, and with giant horns on their foreheads. Riding on the beasts were legions of undead, ranging from unarmed zombies, to undead soldiers of various time periods, to smaller abominations. Hippolyta's eyes widened at the horror approaching their lands, knowing the terrible damage they were about to wreak.

"Amazons!" she cried. "I hope you had a late supper, because breakfast is going to be postponed!"

* * *

_An hour and a half later_

Wonder Woman held her position, levitating over the catapults set up in the hills overlooking the beach. They decided against having soldiers on the beach itself, as there was little to no chance of coming out of such an engagement without casualties, and one loss for them was a new soldier for the opposite side. There could be no heroic sacrifices. Every single Amazon had to count in the long run.

"You seem nervous."

Diana looked down at her mother, smiling a little. "This isn't exactly my first battle, Mother."

Hippolyta looked unconvinced, to which her daughter sighed, lowering closer to the ground. "It's just, this is far bigger than the biggest battle I've ever had to face, and on that day, I wasn't the only one of the world's finest to contend with it. And I know my Amazon sisters were bred to fight in war if necessary, but I'm supposed to be the greatest of us...and now, all I wish was that there wasn't just one of me."

"One's more than enough to make those beasts in the ocean turn tail and run, if they were smart enough," Hippolyta remarked. "We can't spend so long worrying about what we don't have. We need to focus on what we do and how to turn it in our favour."

Diana nodded hesitantly. "Of course. Alexa and Steve are honing in on the energies most consistent with Nekron. We just need to hold out until they find him."

"Best get armed!" Artemis suggested as she jogged over. "They'll be hitting the beaches in moments."

Diana looked back to the beaches, seeing that Artemis was most correct. Lowering herself to the ground for a moment, she picked up a bronze helm, placing it over her tiara. This in turn produced red leather armour that stretched out from the ends of her costume to her boots and bracers, thus covering her skin. Bronze shoulder and knee guards materialised over her costume, as well as a red cape flowing from around her neck. All around her, the other Amazons did the same. She floated back into the air, watching as the undead legions of Nekron approached.

"Give them no hesitation or mercy, for they will not reward you with any for yourself!" Hippolyta instructed the Amazons manning the catapults, as well as several nearby archers standing ready.

"Select your targets!" The archers prepped their bows, aiming at just the right angle to hit their individual targets.

"Light the stones!" A group of Amazons with torches set the hay covering the stones ablaze, just as the first zombie set foot in the sand.

"FIRE!" Hippolyta cried, and thus the rounds were launched into the morning sky. The flaming stones crashed into the whales as their passengers were getting off, which was then followed by a volley of arrows that tore through the zombie hordes and their carriers. This seemed to put a halt to the undead's initial advance...until the zombies, still riddled with arrows, simply got up again, roaring out as they raced across the beach.

"Dammit," Artemis cursed. "Black Hand's will is keeping them here!"

Diana let out a sigh, grabbing hold of a broadsword as the archers let loose another volley. "Then our only chance of stopping them is to completely burn away their bodies! Without a vessel, their souls will be sent back to the underworld!"

"Wouldn't Black Hand simply raise them all over again?" one Amazon arming a nearby catapult suggested.

"Yes, but it would cost him more time," Wonder Woman explained. "And anything we can do to get time on our side is a good option."

"We may not have a chance!" Artemis exclaimed. "Look!"

Looking out to sea, Diana's eyes widened at the sight of several large tentacles coming out from behind the abominations. Within moments, the single largest squid that any human or God had ever laid eyes open rose up from the ocean. It let out a loud bellow that made the Amazon Princess cringe slightly.

"My Queen, we can't hope to stop such a beast with stones and arrows!" Artemis yelled.

Wonder Woman tightened her grip on her broadsword. "Leave this one to me! Continue your assault!"

And with that, Diana flung herself through the air, sword at the ready, prepared to do combat with the titanic beast. However, just as she neared it, ready to fight to the death with this monster, it flung its tentacles forward, coiling around and crushing the whale abominations until their undead bodies burst. Wonder Woman stopped herself, looking on in amazement at the sight, suddenly realising this beast from below wasn't undead.

"What in the world?" Diana wondered aloud. "What's going on now?"

"That is what I would like to know!"

Looking down to the beach, Wonder Woman watched as a pair of zombies toppled over, their bodies carved in half. Standing over them was a figure far too familiar to the Princess of the Amazons, but that she was nonetheless not expecting to see on this day. After all, he very rarely ventured to the surface world. He wore an orange and green scale armour, possessed short blond hair, and carried a very large, very deadly looking trident. He looked back up to Diana, seeming amused by her state of surprise at his presence on the battlefield, before getting his business face back.

"Would someone care to tell me just who the hell has been mutilating and reanimating the corpses of the creatures from my kingdom?" Aquaman demanded.

* * *

_____****__AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ "Behold the king! The king of kings!" Seriously, someone needs to make an AMV of Aquaman to that song. XD Okay, before anyone panics, Aquaman is not here to take over the fic or detract from Wonder Woman. He's just here to find out what the hell is going on, and offer some aid to the Amazons in the battle to save Themyscira. That's all. Now, that being said, naturally, being Aquaman, he will be a badass as he does so. Still, this is ultimately Wonder Woman's story, so he won't be around for too long.

Wait, what's that? You think Aquaman is a useless superhero? Oh, dear friends, I would link you to the video of Linkara to explain how that viewpoint is stupid, but suffice to say, _**Aquaman is the Goddamn King of Atlantis**_...which I'm very tempted to try to turn into a meme of some sort. As Atlantis' dominion encompasses most of the known ocean, Aquaman is therefore the rightful King of roughly 70% of the known planet, albeit likely all below ground level, not that he cares much for control of the surface world anyway. Speaking of which, seeing as how Aquaman operates at the bottom of the sea, his strength, speed, and durability are naturally much higher than that of an ordinary human due to the constant pressure down there, and his sight is also far more advanced to deal with the lack of light. He also wields a trident made of an indestructible magical gold, which can blast foes with water or electrocute them, and yes, has the potential to even kill **_SUPERMAN_**. And just as a final note, while he can't control the undead sea creatures being summoned by Black Hand, it's entirely possible that he could call in Cthulhu to devour the souls of anyone that pissed him off if he so chose...I think, anyway, the jury's still out on whether Cthulhu counts as an aquatic lifeform or not. Point is, I don't make fun of Aquaman, and neither should anyone else.

...Man, I've been ranting a lot at the end of chapters. lol Anyway, check in next time as Wonder Woman and Aquaman fight to save Themyscira. Ja né!


	11. Chapter 11

**_DISCLAIMER:_ Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. ****I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. ********This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 20th, 8:43 AM, EST_  
_Themyscira_

Aquaman looked around, rather irritated. Frankly, that wasn't quite the look that most men would have when they were surrounded by legions of undead, all looking to consume him. Most men would be terrified. However, he was not most men. He was Aquaman, born Orin, son of Queen Atlanna, raised as Arthur Curry, and now the King of Atlantis.

"You know, this wasn't exactly the welcome I was expecting," Arthur admitted, readying his trident as Wonder Woman landed next to him.

"You DO know that we're in the line of fire from the archers, right?" Diana asked, gripping her broadsword.

Orin smirked. "If we were to be shot down by stray arrows, that would be a most pathetic death, and I don't know about you, but..."

Giving his trident a spin, Aquaman stabbed it into a zombie soldier, then let loose a blast of water and electricity through it and into several more behind it. "I don't plan to die today!"

With a grin, Wonder Woman swung her broadsword about, cleaving a zombie in half. She then hurled her tiara at one of two large, giraffe-like abominations with a scorpion's legs and tail, slicing its head clean off. The other was then taken down by a hail of arrows, Diana having to run and dodge to avoid stray shots, slashing more zombies along the way.

A few feet down the beach from her, Aquaman was cleaving undead monstrosities, be they zombies or abominations, into pieces with his trident. He then sent out commands to his squid, letting it squeeze and crush any foes in the ocean. With those taken care of, Arthur could focus on those on the beach, leaping up and stabbing his trident down into a spider-like abomination covered in tentacles. Orin then spun around to slash a zombie that had snuck up on him, only to find it falling apart before he could, the poor target of a double slash from Wonder Woman's sword and tiara.

"So, getting back to what we were talking about?" Aquaman inquired as the two went about hacking the undead.

"They're being summoned by a man named Black Hand!" Diana yelled, cleaving an undead wolf in half. "He's channelling unlimited power over the dead! Until he's defeated, he'll continue to summon the undead!"

"And the reason you're here instead of wherever he is would be...?" Orin demanded, goring a pair of zombie Nazis.

"We're still trying to track him to his location!" Wonder Woman answered, grabbing a stray arrow and stabbing it into a zombie's eye.

"So, hold off the endless, hopeless armada of the dead until then!" Arthur summarized, hosing down several foes with water blasts. "Sounds like my sort of battle!"

"I appreciate that, Aquaman!" Diana replied honestly, lassoing a large group of undead together and sending them sailing back to the ocean. "But now that you've entered the fray, it's only a matter of time before Atlantis becomes a target! Your Queen, your people, your entire kingdom needs you!"

Aquaman grit his teeth, knowing this was true. Still, he couldn't leave the Amazons so poorly defended. Channelling as much power as he could through the trident, he sent out a wave of electricity, incinerating as many undead as he could from the face of the beach. He fell to a knee, catching his breath after such a burst of energy.

"...There's the best help I can give you," Arthur muttered, his squid returning to fetch him. "Make the most of it, Princess Diana."

"Thank you, King Orin," Diana responded with a smile. "Themyscira and Atlantis may not always see eye to eye, but we shall stand united against this threat."

Orin nodded, returning the smile as his squid gently wrapped a tentacle around him. Letting himself get taken away, he and the squid dove underwater, presumably back to Atlantis. With the beach mostly cleared, Wonder Woman lifted off the ground and flew back to the hills, avoiding the flaming stones of the Amazon catapults as they hit their abomination targets.

"Not often the King of Atlantis comes to our aid," Hippolyta noted as her daughter floated over.

"He mostly came for information," Diana admitted. "Still, he gave us a window of opportunity to drive the undead back for a while."

* * *

_5 hours later_

Things had hardly improved much, if at all. The Amazons had managed to keep the undead from marching past the beach, but it was still a long and bloody battle. Worse, there was more than one wave of undead involved in this attack, and while the first two waves of undead had been stopped, they knew it was only a matter of time before another arrived. As it was, given the amount of arrows they were using versus the number they could produce, they would run out long before the next dawn, meaning they would have to take them on head-to-head. Meanwhile, they still were having little luck in tracing Black Hand.

Wonder Woman sighed, laying back on a large rock, looking up at the sun with bloodshot eyes. Despite the days' worth of sleep she'd gotten, she knew she'd be running on fumes soon enough. She was single-handedly having to charge into battle with the zombies from time to time, and she knew it wasn't going to end well if the other Amazons had to come down to take them on. Lives would be lost, which was tragic enough, but it also meant the enemy would be growing in number, and every number they gained made the battle all the harder. As it was, Black Hand probably had more than enough for his attack on Washington, D.C., even while sending this attack force to Themyscira and possibly another to Atlantis.

What made all of this worse was the little nagging voice in Diana's head telling her the Amazons should just evacuate Themyscira and head to Washington. After all, she knew that was where Black Hand would make his attack. Still, she also knew the size of the undead army that attacked in her vision. If Black Hand's actual army was even close to that size, the Amazons couldn't hope to stand against them. Of course, she could always ask President Waller to contact the military, but they'd probably want to use nuclear weapons, and that WASN'T a viable solution. The only option was to find Black Hand and stop him BEFORE the attack commenced. The only problem was, she was running out of time and she knew it.

Diana groaned, throwing her broadsword down. The truth was, for all of the technology being used to trace Black Hand, and what meagre pack of small-time spell casters Waller might have, it still wasn't enough to find him. They needed something more, but who could they possibly turn to? There was no way to make direct contact with Delirium, Circe had likely fled to another dimension, and the Gods on Olympus, the helpful ones anyway, tried to avoid becoming directly involved in human affairs. There was no one on Earth that could possibly have the magical potential to locate Black Hand.

With that last thought, though, Wonder Woman's eyes went wide as she shot up off the rock, face-palming. "Of COURSE! Why the hell didn't I think of this before?!"

Artemis and Hippolyta, who were sitting nearby, looked to her inquisitively, to which she continued. "There's no one on Earth with the magical prowess to find Black Hand, but there WAS, and I know a place where I can gain access to the mystical realm they're currently inhabiting."

"Where?" Artemis demanded.

"Just outside of a city," Diana explained. "Salem, Massachusetts."

"That's in America," Hippolyta pointed out. "If you're planning on going, I suggest you do so now, as to waste less time."

"I know, but if I go, I'm leaving you all to yourselves," Wonder Woman replied, looking concerned. "And there's no telling how soon I can be back."

"We can hold these monsters back, Princess!" Artemis exclaimed. "Go! We'll be fine!"

Diana smiled sadly, still unconvinced, but as she was about to speak, an Amazon archer yelled out, "Queen Hippolyta, the undead return!"

The three Amazon leaders looked back out to the beach. Sure enough, another wave, one even larger than the previous two, was advancing toward land. Wonder Woman picked up her broadsword. Despite Artemis' boasting, there was little chance the Amazons could fight off this attack force for very long. Just as the archers began to take aim, however, a pair of red beams shot down from the sky, vaporizing about a fifth of the attack force instantly. All eyes looked above, where a young blonde woman in Amazon training attire was floating in the air, gripping a sword and shield. Despite her current attire, though, Diana knew this girl well: The immigrant from the stars who came to call Themyscira her home for a few months as she trained to follow in her cousin's footsteps. The Woman of Tomorrow.

"Kara!" Diana cried happily.

Kara glanced to Wonder Woman, giving a small smile. "Kind of came back early from me and Kal's trip. Aquaman sent word about the attack on Themyscira. Thought you could use a hand."

"You thought right," Diana replied.

Kara nodded, turning her attention back to the undead. "If whoever's controlling these creatures can hear this, listen up: I am Kara Zor-El of Krypton, better known on this world as Supergirl! The Amazons are as much my family as anyone else on this planet! If you wanna kill them, you'll have to go through me!"

The legions of zombies and abominations merely roared in response, making their intent clear. Within moments, a pair of undead gryphons took flight, looking to strike Kara in the skies. However, the blonde Kryptonian was more than ready. Using her super breath, she managed to push on them just enough to slow their ascent to the point that the lead gryphon could hardly block the slash across its head. The one behind it threw its claws forward, but Kara managed to get her shield up, then heat vision the beast's wings clean off.

"I'd say that's your opening!" Hippolyta suggested to her daughter.

Diana nodded, getting out the gooey disc from one of the pockets in her skirt. "Hold the line! I'll be as fast as I can!"

With that, Wonder Woman took off into the air as the archers took aim on the zombies beginning to reach the beach. Before leaving, though, Diana flew up next to Kara, who was preparing to take on the undead head-to-head. Removing her helmet, which in turn removed the extra armour from her body, Diana passed it to the one normally called Supergirl.

"I'm going to go put a stop to this," Diana told the confused Kryptonian. "Protect them with your life, Kara, but try to come out of this with your own as well."

Kara gave a smile and a nod, the archers below opening fire on the undead. "Kal should be returning to Earth in four days. If we can hold out that long-"

"We only have three days until the undead attack Washington, D.C.," Wonder Woman interjected, surprising and horrifying Kara. "And that force is much larger than this one. I have to stop the one controlling them before that happens. Also, the workers making the archers' supply of arrows are too few. We'll run out before the sun rises tomorrow."

Kara's eyes widened, knowing the near impossible mission being laid out before her, but Diana placed a hand to her shoulder. "You are strong, Kara. More important, you've learned the best that Krypton, Man's World, your cousin, and Themyscira could teach you. I have every confidence you can do this, sister."

The Woman of Tomorrow looked into Wonder Woman's eyes, seeing the boundless confidence in them. Letting that encourage her, Kara put on the helm, which in turn granted her additional armour. Diana smiled, giving her 'sister' a hug, then tossed her disc into the air, letting it form into her invisible jet. She then flew up into the cockpit, firing off a pair of invisible missiles at the legions of undead below before flying off at maximum speed, leaving Kara to defend Themyscira. And yet, despite the scenario that would otherwise seem hopeless, Kara had Wonder Woman's vote of confidence. That was more than enough for her to let loose heat vision on the undead below and charge them with a war cry that would make any mortal man run and scream in the opposite direction.

Too bad for them, then. They were merely mindless zombies, controlled by Black Hand. As such, they were unable to feel fear, even when they truly should.

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ So, kind of a short chapter this time, but trust me, the story is finally headed into the climax, meaning we'll be getting bulkier chapters, especially since the next few will flash back and forth between Wonder Woman's activities and the defence of Themyscira. POSSIBLY a look at the defence of Atlantis, too, haven't decided yet. Lemme know if you think Aquaman should appear again.

As for Supergirl, I should note that, given Kara's pre-Flashpoint modern origins, having trained with the Amazons, it would actually make sense for her to show up in the flesh, and her presence wouldn't detract much from Wonder Woman. After all, she's interacted with her so much, she's practically part of her extended cast of characters. And yes, she is still Supergirl, as this takes place prior to Man of Tomorrow, though it hardly matters since she's fighting as an Amazon. Once again, I should note her power-set in Infinite DC is that she is able to become physically stronger than Superman through absorbing yellow sunlight faster, but her mastery over her other powers is lacking. For example, she's just barely got heat vision mastered, and her super breath is unable to freeze opponents. She DOES have a yellow sunlight-powered version of the Atom's atomic punch, even though it's not nuclear, but it drains a ton of her energy, and so it is best used in case of extreme emergencies only.

Anyway, check back in next time as Wonder Woman goes to see the one person who can track Black Hand. And if you paid attention when I listed his location, you should be able to figure out who it is. Ja né!


	12. Chapter 12

**_DISCLAIMER:_**** Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.**

* * *

_September 20th, 9:13 PM, EST_  
_Salem, Massachusetts_

It was dark by the time Wonder Woman finally managed to touch down in front of her destination. Getting out of the invisible jet, she shrunk it down into a scabbard for her broadsword as she walked up to the rather decrepid-looking tree before her. Of course, as she had learned many times over, rarely was anything quite what it seemed, and so she pushed herself straight into the tree, moving past the illusion and seeing what was really in the open field behind it: A large, dark tower, stretching several floors, but actually housing a whole other magical dimension inside. The Tower of Fate, home to quite possibly the greatest magician of Man's World.

Looking around the outside of tower, Diana couldn't seem to find a door, so she simply called out, "Doctor?! Can you hear me?! I require your assistance!"

With this call, a large, pink ankh of energy appeared on the wall before her, a loud voice booming out from it. "WHO CALLS FOR THE DOCTOR?!"

"It's Diana, Princess of Themyscira!" Wonder Woman replied boldly. "I seek an audience with Fate! It's of the utmost urgency!"

"WELL THEN..." the voice began to say before the ankh changed into that of a square portal leading inside, the voice changing to a quieter, calmer, feminine voice. "C'mon in, then. I'll let him know he has a royal visitor."

Diana rolled her eyes and shook her head, stepping inside. The realm around her was an endless amount of stairs before a vast void of many different colours swirling about. The staircases were leading up, down, sideways, in loops, and each ending with another portal. There was simply no end to them. However, before she could even ask, one particularly long, winding set of stairs to her right suddenly lit up, the portal at the very end glowing brighter. Deciding this had to be the way, Wonder Woman walked along, not daring to fly in a space like this, much as she'd like to.

After what she swore had to be the better part of an eternity of climbing the staircase, Diana reached the portal. Passing through it, she found herself in a very different place: A library of sorts, with bookcases stretching up for what had to be at least a mile each. Sitting at a desk, reading several books that were floating in mid-air, was a young brunette woman dressed in what looked to be some sort of stage magician's costume. No doubt, she was the same woman who opened the portal for her.

"...Is Fate here?" Diana asked, a bit confused.

"Yeah, he's in the next room," the young woman replied, barely taking a second away from reading. "Sorry, just need to get all this studied. It's hard enough to learn magical incantations, but then having to spell them all out backwards...but, I guess that's what I get for being my father's daughter."

"I'm sorry, are you some sort of student here?" Wonder Woman inquired curiously.

"Kinda," the brunette answered. "My name's Zatanna Zatara. The Doctor's kind of a friend of the family. My father fought alongside of him in the JSA. Trying to learn some of his magic. Even just a portion of it can be a huge help to the world...and my stage routine, I guess, but mostly the world."

Diana smirked, making her way to the next room. "So glad to see the next generation is keeping a selfless attitude."

"Well, y'know, still need to pay the bills," Zatanna remarked. "Besides, would hate to see Dad's act die with me."

Wonder Woman smiled, knowing that was good cause enough, as she opened the door to the next room. Inside was yet another completely different place: A round floor in the middle of the stars. And yet, she could still breathe, meaning there was an atmosphere of some kind. Floating just above the floor, sitting cross-legged, was a man in blue tights, wearing a long golden cape, and a shining gold helmet. He simply sat staring at her as she walked over, his eyes appearing blank and emotionless.

"Doctor Fate," Diana said as she strolled closer to him.

"Diana of Themyscira," the Doctor replied. "I know why you're here. You want me to find William Hand by tracing Nekron's energies to him."

"Yes," the Amazon Princess responded. "Can it be done?"

"It's well within the realm of possibility," Fate answered. "However, I have little interest in aiding you. Mankind's fate is of little consequence to me."

Diana's eyes widened in shock. "It's 'of little consequence'? It's your world. You were a hero of that world for decades."

"Yes, and how was my heroism rewarded?" the Doctor countered. "Banishment, in the form of that act they passed, forcing all heroes to reveal their identities and work directly under the President, like soldiers in their wars."

Wonder Woman sighed, frowning sympathetically. "I'm sorry for that. But surely you know by now that the law was dropped, and that superheroes are allowed to continue their duties."

"For how long, do you suppose?" Fate wondered aloud, uncrossing his legs and letting his feet touch the floor. "True, they allow it when it's clear they have no other means to correct their own mistakes, but when that's no longer the case, when they see you and yours as something they can be rid of, and when you appear less to them as Gods-"

"I am no God!" Diana yelled. "Nor do I wish to be seen as one! Everyday that I'm not out there trying to save someone, I'm doing the same as any other human in this world, working an ordinary job, paying bills to live in an ordinary apartment, and showing others they don't need powers handed down to them to be special! And as far as you go, yes, you were wronged, but if you came back now, if you tried to help in this crisis, they might-"

"What?" the Doctor inquired, marching up to the Amazon as the stars started to swirl behind him. "Ask forgiveness? Welcome me back with open arms? Does that change what happened? Does it undo the pain? Does it bring back Hourman and the others that died as a result?!"

Wonder Woman didn't flinch or falter. She knew the man before him, for all of his power, was a wounded man nonetheless. Fate was emotionally scarred, and seemed unwilling to let anyone try to heal those scars. And yet, she knew there had to be some part of him that she could reach. After all, why would someone seemingly so detached from his humanity allow a young woman like Zatanna to study under him. After a moment's pause, deciding how best to answer his question, Diana simply looked into his eyes, her own brimming with sympathy and empathy.

"No, it wouldn't," she said simply, "but it might help you to find your hope again."

Fate said nothing in reply at first, merely standing there and taking Diana's words in. After what seemed like an eternity, he clenched his fist, which was glowing brightly in pink energy. He held it up, looking almost as if he were about to throw it into the Princess' face, but she wouldn't budge. Instead, he threw his hand out to his right, creating a sphere of energy. After a few seconds, the sphere began to take on the likeness of Earth, expanding in size as dark sparkles of energy could be seen upon it, beginning to form a faint trail from Brazil to America.

"It's very faint, but I am beginning to sense where he's gone," Fate announced as the globe grew larger and the sparkles continued to appear, making the path more apparent. Soon, the path finished, creating a clear line leading from Rio de Janeiro to somewhere along the coast of California.

"What do you suppose is there?" Diana wondered aloud.

"I believe the city is called 'Platinum Flats'," Fate explained. "I've been sensing a number of mystical phenomenons occurring there every so often over the past several months."

"Black Hand's doing?" Wonder Woman inquired.

"No, the energies are different," the Doctor noted. "Although, it IS entirely possible that he's trying to mask his own presence there, underneath said phenomenons. That could be why your friends had been unable to locate him."

"Could be," Wonder Woman agreed. "I'll have to go there to check it out...still, that could take time, and-"

Fate sighed. "Very well, I will teleport you there, but do not ask for my assistance again, understand?"

Diana nodded. "Thank you, Doctor. If there's ever anything YOU need, let me know."

"I doubt that will be necessary," Fate replied while opening a portal, the Amazon Princess turning to enter it. "...Still, I appreciate the offer, nonetheless."

Wonder Woman turned her head back to Fate. Looking him in his eyes, past his helmet, she smiled her trademark smile, the kind that left anyone who gazed upon it in awe. And as she turned to leave, Doctor Fate did in fact feel the slightest glimmer of light inside of his heart once again. He touched a hand to his chest, and for the first time in he couldn't even remember how long, he allowed himself to smile, even if only a small one.

_Consider us even, Princess of Themyscira,_ Doctor Fate thought as he closed the portal, returning to his work.

* * *

_Meanwhile_  
_Atlantis_

Arthur gripped his trident, standing ready as he floated along with the masses of Atlantis' army just outside its dome shield. Through the vast, dark ocean, he could see the armies of the undead travelling to meet them head-on, thanks in part to a number of undead whale-like abominations transporting them. They would be arriving in mere moments, and would unleash all manners of hell that they could upon him and his kingdom.

Despite this, however, Aquaman felt little in the way of fear. After all, he was the King of Atlantis, and in addition to approximately half of the Atlantean army's full numbers, he'd also called several powerful creatures of the sea, from sharks to squids, to come to their aid. To his left and right were two of his young understudies: Jackson, the 'Aqualad', and Garth, also known as 'Tempest'. Both of them, despite being teenagers, were among the greatest allies he had. of course, his wife, Queen Mera, was also a powerful warrior, one of the fiercest he'd ever known. However, Arthur had asked her to remain behind with the rest of the army, just on the off chance that this turned out to be a battle from which they would not return from. After all, while he was confident, he wasn't stupid.

"They're nearly here," Aqualad pointed out. He quickly drew his Water Bearers, twin weapons that allowed him to focus his hydrokinesis, and formed a pair of watery blades from them.

"You didn't honestly expect them to turn and run like cowards, did you?" Aquaman asked, readying himself for battle.

"Would've been nice," Tempest suggested, his eyes burning with violet energy. "Still, if it's a fight they want, they came to the right kingdom."

"Then let's give them the right welcome!" the King of Atlantis roared, the enemy now within charging distance. "Give them hell, unlike any they have had to see before now! Make them beg to return to the Underworld! _**For Atlantis!**_"

And with that yell, the three and the soldiers and beasts behind them swam forward, shooting through the ocean, straight for the mass of undead approaching. Before they collided, however, Aquaman fired out a blast from his trident, Aqualad extended the blades of his Water Bearers out, and Tempest let loose a pair of energy beams from his eyes. These three attacks crippled the three lead abominations, giving the sharks under Arthur's command easy prey. The King of Atlantis, meanwhile, ran his trident through the eye of one unharmed one, then hauled it down to the ocean floor below them with a horrid thud. The beast's mouth opened, zombies looking to swim out, but were quickly overtaken by a giant squid that had followed behind Arthur.

_Here's hoping Diana is doing her part,_ Aquaman thought, pulling his trident free and swimming to his next target, _or none of this will matter at all. And hopefully, my message to the land-dwellers reached someone who can help out._

* * *

_Themyscira_

Artemis cried out, cleaving the head from a zombie with her poleaxe and letting the rest collapse and crawl off in retreat. Everywhere she looked, zombies were being cut down and burned with fire. They had needed to send a small party out to aid Kara, and to give the arrow crafters more time. Unfortunately, while there were no casualties, there were many an injury, some more severe than others. Nothing too bad for Artemis herself, just a scrape across her cheek, but one Amazon being carted off a few feet away wasn't so fortunate, having lost most of her left arm to a gigantic ant-like abomination with mantis-like scythes for limbs. Kara had burned it down to cinders for that.

"That's the last of this wave!" Artemis yelled to Kara as she touched down. "Let's get the wounded back up behind our archers!"

Kara nodded, looking out to sea. "How many more waves do you think there'll be?"

"As many as it takes to kill every last one of us," the red-haired Amazon replied. "So, likely enough to fill a whole new Underworld."

"I REALLY wish Diana was here," Kara admitted, shivering slightly. "Or Kal. Hell, at this point, I think I'd take Batman."

"Well, they're not!" Artemis yelled, surprising the young Kryptonian as she got up in her face. "We're alone! We only have each other for aid! But if that scares you too much, you can fly off for all I-"

"Artemis, look out!" Kara cried, grabbing the Amazon and hauling her down as a large crab claw swung for where she'd just been standing. Emerging from the sand was a gigantic crab-like abomination with two large claws and a long scorpion tail, having apparently tunnelled underneath for a surprise attack. Within seconds, arrows hailed down on it, but they all reflected off harmlessly, its hard shell barely showing a scratch on it.

Firing her heat vision at the beast, Kara was shocked to find it only heated the crust of the abomination's shell slightly. She was then knocked away by the monster's tail, crashing into the stone cliff, though lucky that the stinger itself did no damage. However, as she pulled herself away, she saw Artemis get knocked down, her poleaxe snapped like a twig, and the beast actually managing to cleave an oncoming boulder with its stinger. Its intent was clear, and Kara knew she had to stop it at any cost. Calling up all of her strength, she launched herself from the cliff, curling her fist tightly. Just as she reached the monster, she felt her fist start to burn up, like she was holding a small star in it. With a loud cry, she swung it into the beast's shell, shattering it completely. The abomination shrieked in pain, trying to slice at Kara with its pincers, but she simply grabbed hold of both in each hand. Then, letting out a roar unlike any roar that any monster had uttered on that day, she literally tore the beast in half by its pincers while also firing what heat she had left from her eyes.

Kara panted, trying to catch her breath. She dropped the beast's pincers, letting them fall to the bloodstained beach. She looked down at her armour, also coated in the monster's blood, and felt her own turn cold. The young Kryptonian then felt her knees buckle under her, only to be caught by Artemis and Philippus, the latter having raced down the cliff to try and save her wife. They just held her gently, letting her try to relax and recover from the shock and sheer exhaustion.

"And for the record, I doubt Batman could have done that," Artemis noted, getting a weak smile from Kara. "Come, let's get you back behind the archers for now."

* * *

_Platinum Flats_

Stepping out of the portal onto a rooftop, Diana groaned as she felt herself lurch slightly. She wasn't quite sure why, but she guessed it was due to leaving the mystical realm contained in the Tower of Fate. She looked to a nearby clock tower. It was 11:24, and judging from the position of the sun, it was clearly PM. Remembering the difference in time zones, that meant it was 2:24 AM, EST. In other words, either climbing those stairs really DID take far too long, or time worked differently in the other realm, meaning she had used up a little over five hours at the Tower of Fate.

"Dammit!" Wonder Woman cursed, kicking a brick away in annoyance. "I have two days before the apocalypse swallows the capital of the free world! What else can go wrong?!"

"...Want to run that by me again?" a voice from behind her asked. Diana whirled around, instinctively swinging her lasso. The rope clung to the dark figure's arm, only for her to rush Wonder Woman anyway with a small dart of some sort. Diana likewise grabbed her tiara with her free hand, and within moments, the two had their weapons at each other's necks, just as the golden glow of the lasso revealed themselves to the other. Diana's eyes widened at the sight of the woman in the black and red costume, with a red bat symbol on her chest, porcelain skin under a dark cowl, and crimson hair poking out the back, flowing over her cape.

"...Wonder Woman?" Diana's 'attacker' asked, seemingly in awe.

"Batwoman?" the Amazon Princess inquired.

"You're real," Batwoman stated.

"So are you," Diana added.

"And you're right here," the Dark Knightess rambled.

"That's right," Wonder Woman noted.

"And...you are everything I dreamed you'd be," Batwoman admitted, just before realising what she said, glancing down at the lasso around her arm, and then looking back to Diana. "...Please take this off. NOW."

* * *

_**AUTHOR NOTES:**_ Okay, something I wanna clear up. Back in my notes for Chapter 2, I mentioned that I had read somewhere that Gail Simone had planned for Artemis and Philippus to be married, a move that was even supported by Dan Didio, which is what drove me to have them be married in this fic. Apparently, however, that is not the case. Rather, Gail had planned to have Hippolyta marry Philippus. I can't seem to find where I read that originally (I think it was on TV Tropes, but I can't seem to retrace my steps and find out where), but I KNOW I saw that, in particular the bit about Dan Didio. However, seeing as how I was either hallucinating, got it wrong, or read an article that was mistaken and fixed later on, I nonetheless apologise for any confusion. That said, it's a bit too late to change it back, and I've actually gotten to like the two as a couple, so the marriage of the two in my story will remain intact. I again apologise to anyone who may dislike that decision, but it was simply the one I felt was the right one to make.

Also, before anybody calls me out on this, Supergirl killing that abomination is NOT meant to be some horrible act. I mean, you can choose to interpret it as one, but the moment she looks down at herself, covered in blood, is meant to be more of a case where it just shocked her, and her exhaustion from using her Power Punch (and yes, that's what I'm calling it from now on, lol) is what caused her to nearly pass out.

As it pertains to Aqualad and Tempest, Aqualad's appearance is that of his Young Justice self wearing his comic book self's armour and having the additional powers he had in the comics. Tempest is basically just his comic book self and the hero he became when he got out from under Aquaman's shadow. However, both are made roughly the same age here, and neither are really all that experienced or ready for super-heroics outside of Atlantis yet. Still, plenty of time for that in the future. ^_^

About Doctor Fate. I've alluded to the existence of a Superhero Registration Act existing in the past of the Infinite DC stories. Long story short, it caused the JSA to collapse, hence Fate's leaving for the realm inside the tower. As such, he's a bit understandably bitter, but his meeting with Wonder Woman will help him to start to come back to being a better person again.

Finally, there's Batwoman. If you've been following my Birds of Prey: Dark fanfic, you'll know that Batwoman was actually in Platinum Flats by herself for a short time before Black Canary and the others met up with her. Also, sorry if she seems somewhat fangirlish of her, but it was somewhat established that she has something of a schoolgirl crush on Wonder Woman in the comics. Plus, she had the lasso on her, meaning her true nature and real thoughts about Wonder Woman were on full display. Obviously, she would never outright say something like that otherwise.

Anyway, check back in next time as Wonder Woman and Batwoman team up to track down Black Hand. Ja né!


End file.
